A Message from Fr. Pat Keane
July 16, 2025
Dear Parishioners,
I want to inform y'all of an incident that happened here at Lourdes this past Sunday afternoon (July 13th.)
At 2:30pm six vehicles that were parked here for Mass (one under the St. Bernadette Center, two on Overbrook near the SBC entrance and three in the lower lot on Oxford) had their windows smashed and items stolen that were not in plain sight including a handgun that was in the locked console of a pickup truck and another vehicle had $2K cash stolen from it.
Our video cameras show a Black Infiniti 4-door (plate is blurry) with two young males wearing masks who were the ones who did it. One smashed the window and then climbed in the vehicles without opening the door and ransacked the vehicles looking for valuables. We were one of four Churches that were hit that day and from what I am told on Sundays there are only 3 Police Officers assigned to this area, so the response time is not what it is during the week. The Police and Forensic Unit eventually came out and made a full report and we gave them the video from our cameras.
I am in my seventh year at Lourdes, and this is the first time that something like this has happened, so I don't want us to panic but we all need to be aware that there are always others around who don't respect the property or rights of others. Thieves are particularly looking for guns and they tend to target pickups or vehicles that fit a certain profile that they have been successful with in the past. A Church parking lot can be an easy target because bad guys know that folks won't be back to their cars for an hour. I remember in 2005 when my Mother died there was a rash of home invasions that targeted the deceased person's house on the day of the funeral or the evening of the Wake at the Funeral Home. Thieves think differently than we do and we need to be shrewd as foxes and gentle as doves.
I am in my seventh year at Lourdes, and this is the first time that something like this has happened, so I don't want us to panic but we all need to be aware that there are always others around who don't respect the property or rights of others. Thieves are particularly looking for guns and they tend to target pickups or vehicles that fit a certain profile that they have been successful with in the past. A Church parking lot can be an easy target because bad guys know that folks won't be back to their cars for an hour. I remember in 2005 when my Mother died there was a rash of home invasions that targeted the deceased person's house on the day of the funeral or the evening of the Wake at the Funeral Home. Thieves think differently than we do and we need to be shrewd as foxes and gentle as doves.
If you're a gun-owner, your car is not a rolling gun safe. We can't have the attitude that it will be okay because it's just for an hour. Whether you are at Church, the Gym, a restaurant, grocery store be mindful that bad actors might be watching you in the parking lot and know that they will have enough time to make a smash and grab once you're out of sight. We shouldn't be leaving anything of value in our cars at all because it only emboldens thieves. Out of six vehicles targeted, 2 were a homerun for the thieves. A .333 average will get you into Cooperstown and that's why thieves keep stealing because they know that statistically they'll eventually get what they want.
The good news is that we will be upgrading our cameras on campus so that we can pick up things like license plate numbers and we will be adding more cameras so that our campus is as secure as it can be. We first found out about this because there was a complaint that a woman was attempting to sell food in our parking lot and when one of our parishioners came out to investigate, he saw the thieves and their car as they fled away. We will have a roving security team of at least four parishioners at our 1:30pm Mass and would like to do the same at other Masses but we must rely on parishioners who are willing to volunteer their time as we do for our Friday Morning School Masses. Several times a year we have gypsies begging for money on our property and we must never give them anything or else they will set up shop here like Canadian geese.
We are very blessed to be able to live in this part of Raleigh and we all need to keep our eyes open to protect our surroundings. If you see something out of place, please report it to us immediately.
The good news is that we will be upgrading our cameras on campus so that we can pick up things like license plate numbers and we will be adding more cameras so that our campus is as secure as it can be. We first found out about this because there was a complaint that a woman was attempting to sell food in our parking lot and when one of our parishioners came out to investigate, he saw the thieves and their car as they fled away. We will have a roving security team of at least four parishioners at our 1:30pm Mass and would like to do the same at other Masses but we must rely on parishioners who are willing to volunteer their time as we do for our Friday Morning School Masses. Several times a year we have gypsies begging for money on our property and we must never give them anything or else they will set up shop here like Canadian geese.
We are very blessed to be able to live in this part of Raleigh and we all need to keep our eyes open to protect our surroundings. If you see something out of place, please report it to us immediately.
Please join me in praying for the conversion of these two youths and for all of those who are preying off the innocence of others.
May God bless you abundantly.