Community works to put destroyed Nativity scene back together
By Agnieszka Krawczynski
ABBOTSFORD
Parishioners at an Abbotsford church have risen to the occasion after vandals damaged and stole parts of their outdoor Nativity scene over the Christmas holidays.
Just a week before Christmas, St. James parishioners were shocked to find five figures missing from their near-life-size Nativity scene, which someone accessed by tearing wooden boards off the back of the display.
“We felt like we were really violated,” parishioner David Sawatsky told The B.C. Catholic on the Feast of Epiphany, Jan. 6.
When he learned of the damage, Sawatsky gathered some friends and spent hours in heavy snowfall searching for the missing figures: a Wise Man, a camel, a sheep, a dog, and a cat.
They found the camel’s body on the ground and its head floating in a partially frozen nearby creek. Parishioner Rudy van Berkel waded into the icy water to retrieve the head. The other missing figures, pieces of a professionally crafted theatrical set, are still missing.
While the vandalism devastated many parishioners, the story has a happy ending thanks to what happened next.
“We were not going to let it crush our spirits completely,” said Sawatsky’s wife, Sue.
With the third Wise Man conspicuous by his absence, Sue quickly created a third Wise Man using household items and a few purchases from a nearby thrift shop and a dollar store. Within three hours, a new Wise Man accompanied his two companions, their differences barely discernible.
With help from fellow Knights, Dave Sawatsky installed the Wise Man and fastened wooden boards back onto the Nativity scene to seal it. Parishioners were pleased to see the scene restored and a Facebook post about the third Wise Man received more than 100 likes and numerous comments.
“It was a good feeling to see that people were really disturbed” by the vandalism “and that they were so heartened that we could pull this off,” Dave Sawatsky said.
“We could have just gone to Mass and said: I can’t believe these people did this! We put that aside and said: how do we make this whole again?”
Before the Nativity went up at St. James two Christmases ago, it was an annual fixture at Clearbrook Plaza in Abbotsford. Mayor Henry Braun, the mall’s former owner, had purchased the display and ensured it was set up every year.
His family sold the mall a few years ago and the new owners took over installation of the annual Nativity scene. But in 2013 they stopped due to the high cost of setting up and maintaining the display.
In 2015, members of St. James and St. Ann’s parishes offered to take the display and set it up at St. James in time for Christmas. “We raised a bunch of money and we put hundreds of hours of time into developing a whole new crèche for it,” said Sawatsky.
This isn’t the first time the Nativity scene has fallen victim to vandalism. Last Christmas, the Infant Jesus was stolen.
Other church displays in the Archdiocese of Vancouver have also been attacked in recent years. In 2014, the Christ Child was stolen from a manger scene at St. Pius X Parish. It was later returned without one of its arms.
In 2015, again at St. Pius X, there were several attacks on the outdoor crucifix, which was smashed and the legs of Christ broken off April 11. The crucifix was repaired, but one month later the RCMP Hate Crimes Unit was called in after vandals tried to break the legs off again. In July, the same 6-foot crucifix was defaced with spray paint.
“Given this propensity for vandalism, I’m not eager to put (anything new) outside,” pastor Father John Horgan had said then.
Dave Sawatsky said St. James Parish has reported the recent damage to local police but is not eager to find and punish the vandals.
“I pray for these people that did this. Either they have no concern for this and it was a big joke, or they have a serious issue or problem with the Church, or they’re battling some demons in their own mind. We should be praying for these people,” he said.
