Criminals In New York Target Catholics Attending Christmas Masses

Criminals in upstate New York targeted Catholics attending Christmas masses over the holiday, hitting at least two church parking lots as masses were underway.

Some Catholics attending masses at two different churches in Rochester, New York, had their car windows smashed, items taken from inside their vehicles, and at least one car was stolen.

Several churchgoers who attended the midnight mass at St. Marianne Cope Catholic Church were victimized by the criminals. According to local news station WHAM 13, no suspects have been located.

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Additionally, on Christmas Eve, more than a dozen cars were broken into and at least one car was stolen near St. Joseph’s Church in Penfield, another Rochester suburb. The parishioners who were targeted parked their vehicles at a local elementary school, likely due to attendance overflow.

“I mean, this is typically a safe area from what we understand,” parishioner Mark Elsaesser told News10NBC. “We’ve been coming here a long time. Never seen anything like this happen, especially on the holidays, Christmas time.”

“My wife and I got married here,” he added. “We’ve had our daughter baptized here, so we’ve been coming here a very long time, and nothing like this has ever happened.”

Like the robberies at St. Marianne Cope Catholic Church, authorities have yet to identify any suspects; both incidents remain under investigation.

In another Christmas targeting in Rochester, criminals smashed the windows of 13 vehicles, early Christmas morning on Park Avenue, near downtown Rochester.