At Church of the Assumption in Peekskill, two Mass gatherings were each offered on Saturday, Feb. 18, as a Mass of Reparation following disturbances in which a man left random items on the altar and the sanctuary floor.  

On Friday, Feb. 17, the parish was notified by Peekskill Police who reported that they found the man and that they obtained a restraining order against him on behalf of the parish, according to the pastor, Father Esteban Sanchez. No arrest was made and the parish has decided not to press charges.         

The man on several occasions recently entered the church during non-Mass/service hours, sometimes while supplicants sat or knelt in the pews, Father Sanchez said. He added that the man is reportedly emotionally disturbed, in his mid-50s, and a new Peekskill resident.    

“He came into the church several times, and he began moving objects,” Father Sanchez said in a Feb. 17 phone interview with The Good Newsroom. “And yesterday he brought in many things, such as broken images, an American flag, military uniforms, toys, stuffed animal toys, and religious items such as chalices and pyxes.”    

Father Sanchez said the daytime incidents were witnessed by people praying in the pews and recorded by the church’s surveillance cameras. “We will have prayers of reparation during two Masses, asking God for forgiveness for the offenses that were committed,” he said.   

“There is much dismay, there is much sadness,” the pastor noted, citing the reaction of many parishioners. He said a few people on social media wrote that perhaps these acts were simply the man’s way of showing religious reverence. “But we do not accept this; there needs to be respect for religious things,” Father Sanchez asserted.  

Auxiliary Bishop Edmund Whalen offered a Mass of Reparation during the regularly scheduled  7 p.m. Spanish Mass on Saturday, Feb. 18. Earlier that day, Father Sanchez offered a Mass of Reparation during the regularly scheduled 5 p.m. English Mass.    

On Tuesday, Feb. 21, Father Sanchez said the message during both liturgies was in part that “we must respect the Church, the altar, the Eucharist.” He said the parish will not press charges “because the man appeared to be very mentally confused…The restraining order has no time limit.” 

Last week, Bishop Whalen alerted The Good Newsroom that “an emotionally disturbed man has been problematic in the church for a while, but today (he) went too far. He did not desecrate the church, but left statues and other items on the altar, which has upset the parishioners.”

The bishop added, “At Mass on Saturday, we will come together to pray for him, for all those who suffer, and for a renewed appreciation of the parish family and their church.”

Father Sanchez recently launched the “Assumption Catholic Peekskill Lenten Reflections 2023 Intro” video series on behalf of Catholic Peekskill on YouTube.