Police puzzled by theft of Communion wafers from Lynn church

Slowly and methodically, a thief removed a plexiglass panel, then the stained glass window before he slipped into the sanctuary from a high window. Then he broke down a door to the sacristy behind the altar of St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Lynn, according to the pastor.

The thief did not take the gold chalices or other valuables in the vestry, although apparently he opened each cabinet and searched it. But eventually he came upon the keys to the tabernacle, where he lifted a quantity of Communion hosts from the sacred ark.

The theft, sometime Tuesday night, baffled police and the Rev. James Gaudreau. ''For us, this is a great sacrilege that these hosts have been taken," Gaudreau said. ''That's the body of Christ."

Detectives were puzzled that the thief did not take the religious items that could have been resold.

''I would be speculating as to why someone would do that," said Lynn Police Lieutenant David Brown. ''It's highly unusual. The only items that were taken were the hosts. We don't understand."

Initially, police thought the culprit might have come through an unlocked service door.

To Catholics, the wafers are not just symbolic of their beliefs. They believe the Communion host, once consecrated by a priest during Mass, is physically the body of the son of God.

That's why the Catholic Church sets a heavy punishment for theft -- automatic excommunication -- according to canon.

Several priests contacted for this story declined to be identified and were reluctant to speculate on what uses the Communion wafers might have outside the church.

But the Rev. Raymond Helmick, a Jesuit professor at Boston College, said thieves could want the wafers for any number of reasons: from performing Communion services at closed parishes to occult rituals.

But he added that the wafers aren't all that difficult to obtain.

''Going through this very elaborate break-in, who needs this?" Helmick said. ''It really just sounds like a sicko."

Gaudreau said whoever broke in wasn't likely to use the wafers for any sanctioned religious ceremony:

''They wouldn't be looking for absolution breaking into the tabernacle."