Homosexual ‘couple’ breaks into 29 Catholic churches, steals consecrated hosts

(LifeSiteNews) — Two homosexual men perpetrated a burglary spree in France, breaking into 29 Catholic churches over three months and stealing consecrated hosts while using sacred vessels as home decorations, a French court has found.

The New York Times reported that last summer, 35-year-old Raphaël Hourdeaux and his 30-year-old “romantic partner” Tony Paupière were responsible for a streak of break-ins and burglaries of Catholic churches in rural northern France.

In the village of Burelles, the two men broke into the parish church, smashed the donation box, broke through the wooden sacristy door, and stole communion plates, as well as two vials used for baptism and a monstrance.

On the same day, the thieves stole a chalice from the parish church in the nearby village of Vervins. The following day, the men targeted the church in Marle, stealing another valuable chalice after breaking open the tabernacle, where the Blessed Sacrament is kept.

According to French media outlets, the thieves also stole some consecrated hosts. The thieves were therefore potentially motivated not only by making money from the stolen goods but also by blasphemous purposes.

According to the New York Times, the police were able to track down the homosexual burglar “couple” using cell phone geolocation. In October last year, 30 police officers raided the men’s home and found that they used some of the liturgical items as decorations and stashed others in plastic bags and cupboards.

The duo sold some of the items to a local antique dealer, who was charged and convicted of handling stolen goods. Other items were melted down and sold as metal.

Most of the churches were located in remote villages where Holy Mass was celebrated only several times a year, as priests sometimes oversaw up to 50 churches. It was therefore easy for the men to break into these churches and go unnoticed, with days passing on some occasions before the burglaries were discovered.

The two men were sentenced to three years in prison, with two years suspended. They will serve their one year’s detention at home with electronic monitoring, the chief prosecutor said.

The court is scheduled to assess how much compensation the parishes should receive for the burglaries. Some items have been returned to the churches if they could prove ownership. However, many churches did not keep detailed inventories, making it difficult to prove they items belonged to them. Many of the items have therefore been handed over to the local Church leadership for distribution among the parish communities, offering some consolation for their losses.