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Pastor says burglar needs help, not prosecution

Friday, March 01, 2002

By Johnna A. Pro, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

At the end of the midmorning Mass yesterday at St. Mary of the Mount Church, fourth-graders from the parish school made their way to the side of the altar and had their teacher call the priest over.

	The Rev. Lou Vallone, pastor of St. Mary of the Mount on Mt. Washington, looks through the window that separates the church from its visitation chapel. The church has been broken into five times since November. (Gabor Degre/Post-Gazette)

"You want to see me?" the Rev. Lou Vallone said jovially as he leaned down to be at their eye level.

One by one the children stepped forward to hug the priest, who since 4 a.m. had been dealing with the fifth break-in at the church since November.

"We just wanted to make you happy," the children told Vallone. "We thought you were sad."

"I'm not sad about the glass [that was broken]," said Vallone, assuring the children that their hugs had brightened his day.

"I'm sad for the person doing it."

As he removed his vestments, Vallone talked about the break-ins that have plagued the historic church on Grandview Avenue, Mount Washington. The burglar, who Vallone believes needs to be helped, not prosecuted, has caused more damage with each entry.

There is no pattern to the break-ins other than they occur at night. Repairing the damage to the church costs more than what is lost in the burglaries because the church has only a few dollars inside at any given time.

"It's not about money. The guy has got an obsession with breaking into this particular church. I have no idea what's in this person's head. He may very well think he's on a mission from God to keep the church open and accessible," said Vallone, who finds that ironic because a portion of the church always is open.

"For all we know, he could be mad at me, at the church universal, or even at God."

The latest break-in occurred some time between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. yesterday in the church's 24-hour chapel located near the entryway.

The chapel is separated from the main sanctuary by a panel of glass windows. But the church's interior is lit so those coming to pray have a view of the altar.

The burglar kicked in one glass panel, and once inside the church, took the few dollars left in wicker baskets for the votive candles and the poor. He managed to come and go in the 50-minute period between routine police checks.

"The officers are coming around at all hours, at all times of the night," Vallone said. In addition, parishioners are keeping an extra eye on the chapel as are those who come in late to pray and those out at odd hours, such as shift workers, cab drivers and media people.

"Nobody has reported seeing anyone strange around the building," Vallone said. "For all we know, it's someone who comes in here regularly to pray and every so often just goes crazy."

Vallone says he believes the burglar is the same person who began vandalizing the church three years ago. Since then, there have been roughly 20 incidents in which the side windows of the church have been pushed open, breaking their crank mechanisms. The force needed to break the mechanisms would subsequently crack the stained glass.

Those mechanisms were replaced with new mechanisms that are actually easier to break and cheaper to replace. Because they break more easily, more stained glass has been saved.

"We actually made it easy for him to get in, so then he moved to the chapel," Vallone said, reciting the details of the four incidents that preceded yesterday's burglary.

For security, the church has a sound monitor, surveillance cameras and 24-hour lighting. While some parishioners believe more cameras or other security measures might be necessary, Vallone is loathe to add them.

Steps to secure the chapel take away from its reason for existing -- that is, to provide a peaceful place for people to pray at anytime in the day, he says.

Because of its location on Mount Washington, Vallone calls St. Mary of the Mount the face of the Catholic Church in Pittsburgh, a beacon for residents, tourists, Catholics and non-Catholics in search of God's comfort.

"We're not going to let one troubled soul take away from all the other souls, some of whom may be troubled themselves, who come here to pray."

Editor's note: Staff writer Johnna A. Pro is a parishioner at St. Mary of the Mount.