Holy water should not be missing in any Catholic church. With the blessed water, the faithful cleanse themselves symbolically when entering the church. But in the Catholic Church Guthirt in Aarburg AG no consecrated drop is available at the moment.
The reason for this is anything but hygienic: Unknown perpetrators urinated in the holy water of the church in December, as reported by Tele M1. The deacon and parish leader of the parish of Guthirt, Markus Stohldreier, confirms this compared to 20 minutes: “In my 36 years as a theologian, I have never experienced anything comparable.”
Sigrist noticed a stench
The Sigrist of the church always checks whether there is still enough holy water, says Stohldreier: “During a check in December, he noticed a stench.” It quickly became clear that someone had urinated in the kettle with holy water. This is there so that the faithful can let out holy water and take it home.
The Sigrist reacted quickly, cleaned the boiler thoroughly and refilled it. But: “Unfortunately, we urinated again in the holy water kettle,” said the deacon. Afterwards, the boiler was first deposited in the rectory and locked – “so that something like this cannot happen again”.
Attack happened in broad daylight
But that didn’t stop the perpetrators either: instead they simply peed in the holy water basin at the church entrance. “After these events, we decided not to refill holy water at first,” says Stohldreier. Even now the basins are empty, notes draw attention to the peeing attack.
Particularly brazen: “The perpetrators must have urinated in holy water in broad daylight,” said the deacon. Because the church was closed at night – to prevent vandalism.
“The community is shocked”
Stohldreier finds clear words for the evil: “These urine attacks are just sad.” For him it is inconceivable how ruthless the perpetrators are. “The community is shocked.” But that was probably the goal of the perpetrators, says the deacon.
He does not believe that everything was just a rascal prank: “Otherwise the perpetrators would not have struck repeatedly.” Stohldier suspects that they were deliberately trying to violate religious feelings. But: “I don’t know who is responsible for this.”
Soon the deacon wants to pour holy water again. Stohldreier: “We hope that something like this never happens again.”
(Per)
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