After being assaulted and robbed while conducting mass at the Brickdam Cathedral, Roman Catholic Bishop Francis Alleyne has said he suspects his assailant was under the influence of something and not fully in control of his actions at the time.
“I didn’t judge him as a person who was aggressively attacking the church,” Bishop Alleyne told Stabroek News, following the recent incident.
Bishop Alleyne added that he has been attacked before and noted that what occurred was not an attack, while noting that he was not injured or harmed during the robbery as the blow he received to his head did not cause harm.
Recounting the episode, which occurred on November 7th, he said he was holding a morning mass service, which began at 6 am, when the man, who is believed to be of unsound mind and destitute, entered the church and robbed him.
Bishop Alleyne said that the church is accustomed to all kinds of visitors, hence there was no panic when the man entered the church and approached him. Bishop Alleyne said that these visitors “usually come and look on” and that they usually keep to themselves.
Bishop Alleyne recalled the man entering the church and walking up the aisle to where he was standing at the altar. The Bishop said that the man was uttering unintelligible words as he approached and it is unclear to him whether the man was speaking another language or whether it was gibberish. He said that the man walked up to the aisle then turned and went to the congregation and stared at them before returning to his initial path. After he went back to the altar, the man grabbed his hand and removed his ring before removing the pectoral cross he wears around and then walked around him, hitting him at the back of his head in the process before he removed a bible and went back in the same direction he came, the Bishop said.
While this was happening, the congregation remained in place and the mass continued to be streamed live on the church’s social media. Bishop Alleyne said that a woman who is a part of the congregation sent her son to her home to get a relative while the incident was unfolding. That person arrived immediately and was able to confront the man just as he exited the church, he related. The woman’s relative retrieved the bible and the cross.
Bishop Alleyne said that it wasn’t until after he was finished with the service that the woman approached him and told him that she left the service to make a report of what happened to the police. He was told that the police suggested that he too make a report and that is what he did at the Brickdam Police Station. He said that both he and the woman were assured that the police would be on the lookout for the man. However, while he was making his report, persons were looking for the man and public-spirited persons found the man and retrieved his ring. The man ran away before police arrived.
According to Bishop Alleyne, his main concern lies with his assailant and his wellbeing. He said that it concerns him to know that such persons are in dire need of help but are left to the streets. He suggested that some sort of relief, through the society, should be available for these persons.
