Brazen crimes, a worried parish

The Rev. Robert Bowers was well into his sermon at Charlestown's St. Catherine of Siena Parish on Sunday when the hush of the sanctuary was suddenly interrupted by a creak from the front door. Faces turned furtively. A woman reached protectively for her purse, and an usher standing near the door went for the wooden handle of the collection basket, as though he might use it as a weapon.

It turned out only to be a man in a tan suit, bringing his daughter to a baptism. But for more than a week now, since a thief tried to snatch a purse during Mass, some parishioners have been glancing toward the door every time it opens, their eyes nervously searching for a glimpse of who might be entering.

"It's horrible," said Kathleen Manganelli, who has been attending services at St. Catherine for 20 years. "You have to watch the doors now. Normally you wouldn't have to do that. "

On Jan. 11, a scream sent parishioners running to the aid of a woman seated in the last pew. "He's got my pocketbook," said one parishioner recalling what the woman said. "He's got my pocketbook!"

Ushers tackled a man who was fleeing and retrieved the purse, but the boldness of the offense has left many fearing what may come next.

The attempted robbery was the most brazen so far of nearly a dozen crimes committed against the church and its parishioners during the past six months. Since the summer, vandals have scrawled graffiti on church buildings, and rammed 88 holes in the roof of the church school. Last month, 11 windows in the parish office building were shot out with a BB gun. On Jan. 4, the school's rear gate was ripped off. And one day after the attempted purse-snatching, Bowers discovered the door of an office below the church had been kicked in and a computer was missing.

"People are living in fear," Bowers said. Volunteers who work in parish offices are constantly on edge, he said, fearful the next crime might be more dangerous. "They are horrified."

The church is surrounded on three sides by the Charlestown public housing development, the Boston Housing Authority's largest community for low- and moderate-income families. Bowers said lax security and a growing heroin problem at the housing complex are causing the recent spate of crimes.

He has complained repeatedly to Boston police and to administrators at the Boston Housing Authority, which manages the development. In November, after six months of complaining, he went to state Senator Jarrett Barrios with a list of things he said BHA should do: repair broken security doors on housing complex buildings to discourage drug dealers from going there to sell, hire more security guards, and install a resident manager in each building. But so far, he said, nothing has been done.

"It's so frustrating," Bowers said. "We're fed up, but we don't know what to do now."

Boston police say that crimes in the church, including the shooting, burglary, and purse-snatching offenses, are under investigation but declined to say whether they plan to beef up patrols or take other measures to clamp down on crime in the area. BHA officials said they have been working to address Bowers's complaints since summer but said budget constraints have hindered progress.

"I understand that he's frustrated," BHA spokeswoman Lydia Agro said. "We agree with him that we need better security. We're doing it as quickly as we can."

Agro said the agency has been working on repairing security doors since August and expects to have half of them done by the end of next month. The rest will have to wait until the next fiscal year begins April 1.

There is no money earmarked for extra security guards at this point, said Agro, who added that the agency has been convening resident meetings to help address security concerns.

The BHA received a scathing inspection report last spring from federal authorities who found life-threatening safety violations had gone unaddressed for months at the Bunker Hill Street development, including emergency exits blocked by security bars, exposed wiring, and inoperable smoke detectors. Bowers said the violations represent the lax management at the project, which fosters crime.

BHA administrators at the time said a new management team had been hired at the development, and the agency was working to correct the problems. By last fall, though, officials at the US Housing and Urban Development said that while residential satisfaction at Charlestown had improved, management and the physical condition of the buildings had not.

After Globe inquiries Sunday, a representative of Mayor Thomas M. Menino's Office of Neighborhood Services visited the parish, and city officials later pledged to meet with BHA administrators, police, and church leaders.

In the meantime, Bowers said, services at the parish will continue.

"This is an urban parish with an urban mission," Bowers said. "Don't be panicked. Just be very aware."

Donovan Slack can be reached at dslack@globe.com