DREADFUL SACRILEGE.

Dunstan Times, Issue 937, 2 April 1880, Page 3

DREADFUL SACRILEGE.

A Despatch dated Loudon, Saturday, January 10th, says : This morning the church of St. Peter's Hatton Garden, better known as the Italian Church, was the scene of a disturbance of a dastardly chiraotcr. The church had been beautifully decorated for Christmas and New Year feasts, and special preparations had been made in view of the visit to-mor-row of Cardinal Manning. Ten o’clock Mass was being celebrated by the Pev. Father Bokanowski, a Polish priest, licensed chaplain to tho Poles in London, and who is allowed the use of St. Peter’s Church. Just as tho elevation was taking place a shot was fired at the priest by a person in the body of the church. This took effect in the altar. The server attending upon tho priest fled into the sacristy and locked tho door. Tho priest, on following, was unable to enter ore his assailant fired more shots, ono lodging in the crown of the arch over the sacristy door and the other in the side of the door. The priest then ran round the back of the altar, closely pursued by tho would-be murderer. The reverend father succeeded in getting round to tho front of the church and escaped. Two more shots were fired after him, one of them piercing the back of a chair at the top of the right aisle. The man then rushed to the back of the altar, and seizing some of the massive candlesticks, dashed them to the ground, breaking them into fragments, although constructed of solid metal. Proceeding to tjio front, he went up tho altar stops and wrenched away the door and framework of

tho tabernacle. The force required to Ho so may be imagined whdn it is stated that the door itself is a plate of metal of considerable tldckuoss ; the screws hail been ] snapped like match work. Seizing the pyx j and chalice be bent them into distorted 1 shapes by his violence.. Not content with this, ho brought out the ciborium, containing about 300 consecrated elements of tho Host. The altar linen and atopendium I wore ignited either by the falling candles or by the man lighting some matches, a supply of which were "afterwards found in his pocket. The antepemlium is a most beautiful work of art,, worth at least Ll5O. ft was a gift from the noble ladies of Genoa, worked by their own hands, and only reached tho church in time for the feast of the Immaculate Conception, on the sth December last. As it was Low-Mass in course of celebration, fortunately the antependium was covered with one which had been used at High Mass prior to the I receiptof the now one. The outer one was Ito all intents destroyed by the H imes, the j new one being scorched and blackened, j The dehrts of broken glass, candles, metal, and woodwork was scattered ail over the chancel. The incidents described above were the work of a few moments. The congregation at first were struck with panic" at the audacity and sacrilege of the perpetrator, bht,'quickly recovering, extinguished the flames, amh some members of the congregation surrounded the man and removed from his person the revolver and dagger used in his pursuit of tire priest. On the arrival of the police the man was removed to Clerkenwcll police court, where he is now undergoing examination. He is a German, named Alexandra Sehossa, 33 years old. Tho motive of his offence is a mystery, as be was a complete stranger to the church,, its priests, and congregation. The prisoner was on Saturday brought before the magistrate and remanded. A telegram dated London, Sunday night, says : Cardinal Manning attended at the Italian Church, Hatton Garden, this evening, and in the course of his remarks took occasion to denounce Schossa’s conduct at sacrilegious, aud the attempted assassination of the Rev. Mr Bokanowski, as a Socialist crime. “It belongs,” his Eminence said, “to the category of those things which have taken place not in London alone, but on the Continent of Europe.” It is stated that Sehossa represents the German Socialists or Nihilists, and that the Rev. Mr Bokanowski had given offence by writing and speaking in Poland against the organisation. Sehossa is an asphalt worker, and reputed to be industrious and sober, but during the past I throe days the man had become strangely I morose.