CATHOLICS in Malaysia have been urged to hold special prayers tomorrow as “spiritual reparation” after a 137-year-old church in Kapit, Sarawak, was damaged and desecrated by drug addicts over the weekend.

Bishop of Sibu Joseph Hii Teck Kwong made the call to hold special prayers after a group of between four and six men broke into the Mary Immaculate Conception church on the banks of Sg Rajang on Friday and damaged the tabernacle.

The tabernacle contains the Blessed Sacrament or Holy Eucharist, which is most sacred to Catholics who believe this is where Jesus Christ is truly present. It is kept in sacred vessels inside the tabernacle under lock and key.

When this tabernacle is broken into, and the Blessed Sacrament is removed, thrown or scattered, it is “an act of desecration”, as something sacred has been treated unworthily or in an evil manner.

“They not only stole. They desecrated the church,” Hii told The Malaysian Insight.

“They broke and damaged the tabernacle. They must have thought we kept money in there. They stole the church’s sound system, fans and even wheelchairs.”

The thieves also ripped the electrical wiring for the valuable copper.

Police arrested four men between the ages of 17 and 23. Two others are on the run.

Most of the stolen items were recovered from the suspects’ squalid homes – a stone’s throw away from the church. The suspects were also tested positive for drug abuse.

News of the desecration spread to the peninsula, as Hii had asked all clergy and the faithful in Malaysia to pray and make a “spiritual reparation” in their respective churches on Friday.

To make a “reparation” means to pray for forgiveness by conducting various spiritual acts like celebrating mass, keeping a holy hour with prayers and petitions, and any other form of penance and devotion.

Hii would not describe the damage to the church in ringgit-and-sen terms but said the desecration of the Blessed Sacrament is felt deeply as it is highly disrespectful.

The church sitting on top of a hill overlooks Kapit town, which has a population of about 120,000 and whose residents are predominantly Catholics. – January 31, 2019.