St Teresa’s

Tue 28 Jul 2020, 09:53

i am very sorry to hear that kids broke in to St Teresa`s & desolated a place of worship

you just wonder what their parents would think about it.

im`e sure that this sort of thing  did`nt happen in my day,the only naughty thing that we did was on a wednesday evening at St Mary`s we had choir practise & one of the boys releast a hen in the church which made us giggle...i wont name him......chris wastie

in

Sun 26 Jul 2020, 17:03

Just an update: the police were excellent with a thorough scene of crime investigation, yielding plenty of fingerprint and DNA evidence. St Teresa’s will he closed for this next week as the full deep clean will have to be done to remove the tinned tomatoes/beans/chicken soup stains from the tiles, and the thick wax from the sanctuary carpet. Mercifully, the most important items are undamaged. It was very upsetting to see our little church so abused but it will take more than that to stop the faithful of St Teresa’s! Many thanks to all who have sent messages of support. Much appreciated and this is what makes living in Charlbury so good.

Sun 26 Jul 2020, 16:17

Hello Birgit, this all fell into place early this morning. General "exuberance" was heard from around 11 last night. I think what's happened is perhaps ignoring of noise and swearing, that it may have been short term letting off steam and kids would eventually go home (if local). However, not local kids, and a very much unexpected end result with police picking up girls reported missing by their parents, and then with the help of others in Sheep Street, joining together the list of misdemeanours. 

Ultimately, more a societal reflection, if youth had better things to do or engage with, then these things less likely to happen. 

The lesson is probably for all of us to be a bit more aware when things don't appear to be right. 

Sun 26 Jul 2020, 14:53

When was the burglary discovered? I ran passed the church at 6.15am this morning (don't ask) and stopped as saw that the side door was ajar and heard voices. I assumed it was 'church people' getting the church ready for Sunday mass. 

Sun 26 Jul 2020, 13:15

So sad, there is no excuse for this type of behaviour.

Sun 26 Jul 2020, 11:35

That is terrible news.I am sure the whole of Charlbury will be saddened. We are praying for you.

Sun 26 Jul 2020, 11:21 (last edited on Sun 26 Jul 2020, 11:25)

To add to the damage to St Teresa’s, a neighbour’s garden and another neighbour’s car were also broken into on Sheep Street. Luckily, a lot has been captured on local CCTV, and we hope the officers will also be checking the Coop’s CCTV to piece it all together. 
This will be very upsetting for Clive and St Teresa’s congregation, especially as work has been done on the Church recently, and I am sure moral support will help a lot. 

Sun 26 Jul 2020, 09:58

Just to let everyone know that last night St Teresa’s, our lovely little church, was broken into and “ trashed”. The police were quick on the scene this morning and apprehended some youths from outside the area who were still hanging around. Apparently a group had been causing trouble outside the Co-op earlier in the day.

It will be some time before we are ready to go again as the church will need a deep-clean to remove the food, wax and ash that has been spread around everywhere inside.There will be no Masses or services for the time being. Many thanks to all who helped this morning. This is very upsetting for all the faithful.