Bulgarian church robbed, desecrated for the third time in recent years

October 4, 2019. A church in the Bulgarian city of Vratsa, 60 miles northeast of Sofia, was desecrated and robbed Monday night. This is the third such attack against the Church of St. Nicholas in recent years, reports btnovinite.bg.

Police believe the thief was hiding inside the church until the staff left. In the morning, an employee found that $85 (150 leva) were missing from the cash register.

The thief also attempted to rob the donation box, but was unable to open it.

It is not clear why employees of the security company, located just meters away from the church, did not respond to movements on the mounted sensors.

“To me, his intelligence must be zero to do something like this; to steal money is a sin, but to do it in a church is simply unforgivable,” said Fr. Basil, the parish rector.

“The Lord can deal with him and catch him,” he said.

The Church of St. Nicholas was built between 1865 and 1867 and preserves the relics of the first Metropolitan of Vracha after the liberation of Bulgaria from Turkish slavery, and thus is known as the Metropolitan Church of St. Nicholas.

Sources:

https://orthochristian.com/124400.html

https://btvnovinite.bg/bulgaria/oskverniha-i-ograbiha-carkva-v-centara-na-vraca.html