Burglary at St. Irene Chrysovalantou Church in Astoria

Theodore Kalmoukos

BOSTON - Unknown intruder or intruders attempted to rob the St. Irene Chrysovalantou Church in Astoria on Sunday, Nov. 13 around 9PM. It seems that they entered from a basement door, but they left with no plunders because the alarm went off. The intruders went directly to the icon of St. Irene – which is filled with valuable gold and silver items reflecting expressions of faith. They did not manage to break the casing because it is bulletproof and specially-made. They attempted to break the icon of the Mother of God on the iconostasis but they did not have any luck with that either, damaging only its glass case. Bishop Elias of Philomelion told TNH that “it seems that they entered from the back door of the Church from the kitchen side and then they came up into the Church and they attempted to break the icon of St. Irene, but the glass is bulletproof and they did not succeed. Then they broke the glass case of the icon of the Theotokos on the right side of the iconostasis but they did not manage to take anything.”

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November 17, 2011