Greek church pleads for recovery of $18,000 worth of stolen items

Source: CBC News
Posted: 09/11/08 5:49PM
Filed Under: Canada

The leader of a Greek Orthodox church in Surrey is appealing to the public for help recovering more than $18,000 worth of religious items stolen from the church last week.

The break-in at the St. Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church at 8415 160th Street in Surrey happened sometime between Sept. 5 and 7.

Police later arrested a 39-year-old Surrey man and charged him with two counts of break and enter and three counts of possession of stolen property, but most of the stolen items, including silver- and gold-plated chalices and crosses, were not recovered.

Rev. Constantinos Tsiolas said the recent robbery was the third time the church has been broken into this year, and he suspects thieves are selling the religious items for cash.

But for him, the real loss is not the cash value but the religious significance of the items.
"The chalice is just not a cup. It is something sacred to a group of people," Tsiolas said. "So, I would hope that people keep that in mind before they actually buy all these stolen church objects."

The priest said he is still hopeful someone will come forward with information that will lead to the recovery of the stolen items. The stolen religious articles include two of these gold-coloured processional fans.(RCMP)

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