Catholic Churches in the Bronx see rise in thefts from pews and parishioners cars

This article reminds me of what a priest said at a Sunday marning mass at St. Simon of Stock Church around 1971. The Carmelite priese in this Carmelite parish complained about recent theft in that church. He mentioned that the missing brass Communion rail was NOT stolen but removed for safety after the tabernacle dood had been broken and the silver chalice stolen. By then there was an obvious change in the demographics on this neighboorhood arond the Grand Concuurse south of Fordham Road - and Irish families in the area were moving to safer places.