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ACHO DENE KOE/FORT LIARD - Members of the St. Raphael Roman Catholic Church parish in Fort Liard were shocked by a recent break-in.

Overnight between May 30 and 31, minor damage was caused to the church and the priest's trailer during a break-in.

St. Raphael Catholic Church in Fort Liard was broken into last month and minor damage was done to the building as well as to the priest's trailer. - photo courtesy of Andrea Lochan

Six youth ranging between the ages of 14-17 have been charged with break and enter to commit mischief.

"That's the low of all lows for (anyone) to be doing that," said Joanne Deneron, a member of the congregation.

Deneron said she and many other people in the hamlet were shocked when they found out what happened.

"I thought if there was any place in town that was sacred that was one of the places," she said.

The congregation doesn't use the church building any more because of its age and state of deterioration. Many people in the community, however, feel close to the church because of all the weddings, baptisms and funerals that were held there, Deneron said.

The break-in shows the general lack of respect there is for things in the community, she said.

"I was just totally, totally disgusted and shocked that something like that could happen," said Deneron.

Eva Hope was one of the congregation members who assisted in the clean-up of the two buildings.

In the church the culprits had moved the benches around to form a circle and burned some candles inside, she said. The offenders were putting themselves in danger because the lit candles could have easily sent the entire structure up in flames with them inside of it, said Hope.

In the trailer, which is used by the priest when he visits the hamlet, the culprits spread communion wafers on the floor along with some food from the fridge and some drinking glasses they broke.

Both the censer, used for burning incense, and one of the priest's white gowns were found thrown outside, Hope said.

"Some people are not happy about it. They are angry this happened," she said.

Hope said she doesn't understand the motive behind the break-in because there's nothing of real value in the trailer.

Community members use the building for baptismal preparation and preparing food for feasts.

"There's no respect," Hope said.

The culprits' actions also go against traditional teachings.

"According to the elders, the church is a sacred place," said Hope, who added that people shouldn't even walk around it at night.

Hope did commend the members of the local RCMP detachment for their handling of the incident.

"They did a really good job," she said.

As of June 5 the RCMP was still investigating the break-in. Nothing appears to be stolen from either location, said Cpl. Dennis McLeod.

Although the nature of the crime has raised strong feelings in the community, McLeod said that as far as break and enters go, value-wise there was very little damage done in the buildings.

The RCMP has also ruled out the possibility of links to satanic rituals. McLeod said there were rumors circulating of rituals being conducted in the cemetery beside the church but he hadn't found evidence of that, he said.