The Very Rev. Logan McMenamie expressed relief Friday at the recovery of valuable artifacts stolen from Christ Church Cathedral.
The stolen items, including a communion spoon and two gold-plated silver chalices from the 18th century, were turned in anonymously Thursday night at Victoria police headquarters. They were left at the front door of the building, said Victoria police Const. Mike Russell.
“We at the cathedral are very, very happy that they have been returned to us,” McMenamie said.
“That was our hope right along. We wanted just the items returned to us, no questions asked, so we could move ahead and put them back into their rightful place.”
The church plans to put the artifacts back on public display, McMenamie said.
“We want to have them out there, because I think that they’re a treasure not only for us but for the city of Victoria.”
Access to the historic Anglican cathedral won’t be curtailed either, he said.
“People come in and pray, people come in and meditate, people come in out of the rain and we want to still have that,” he said.
Russell offered few details about the return of the items since the case is ongoing, and no suspects have been found.
“Given the nature of the theft, and the fact that those items that were stolen were invaluable, the Crime Reduction Unit was aggressively pursuing the recovery,” he said. “The [unit] has been putting a lot of pressure on property thieves in and around town, trying to get the information.”
The fact that the stolen goods were unique and would have been difficult to sell also could have dissuaded anyone involved from keeping them, Russell said.
McMenamie had high praise for both the police and the public.
“It seemed to be that this didn’t only affect the cathedral, but it affected a whole bunch of people across the city. People were stopping me in the street, saying they were so sorry. So thank you to all of them for their support, for their encouragement and for their prayers during this time.”
The recovered artifacts suffered some minor dents and scratches from attempts to take items apart, McMenamie said. “But we’ll quickly look after restoring them and get them back in good shape.”
The thief or thieves who took them sawed through Plexiglas and steel bars. McMenamie said security changes are still under discussion. Video surveillance is a possibility.
“We haven’t decided how we’re going to display them in the future,” McMenamie said. “We thought that we had a good system in place so that we could show them to the public, to tourists who come in.”
He said insurance will cover the damage costs.
