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Church vandalized

Paul Bickford
Northern News Services

Fort Resolution (May 08/06) - Fort Resolution has been shocked by a vandalism rampage inside St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church in the early-morning hours of April 27.

Dorothy Beaulieu, a lay presider at the church, said she was personally hurt to see a wooden tabernacle, which contained consecrated bread for Holy Communion, was thrown on the floor and smashed.

"The holy bread was all over the place," she says.

The vandals also scattered flowers around the altar and broke about a dozen candles.

They also sprayed the contents of a fire extinguisher onto a cloth over the main altar and over pews at the front of the church.

"I'd say it was a mess," Beaulieu says, adding the frame of the front door was also cracked by a forced entry.

She notes there has never before been such an incident in the church.

"The things that they did to the Eucharist," she says. "That's sacrilege."

Beaulieu says people in the community find it hard to believe the lack of respect for the church. "Everybody is shocked by it."

Two men have been charged in connection with the incident.

Cpl. Neil Flett says the RCMP were contacted at about 3:20 a.m. and made arrests inside the church.

The men, aged 28 and 35, have both been charged with break and enter to commit mischief.

Flett says alcohol was a factor in the incident.

Beaulieu notes the break-in was discovered by three women driving home in separate vehicles from a card game.

After they noticed lights on in the church, one went to get the police, while the others shone vehicle lights onto the building entrances.

The accused will appear in Fort Resolution Territorial Court on May 15.