Haverhill's baby Jesus statue was stolen from the church's nativity scene on Christmas morning. Local church parishioners were stunned as the statue was replaced by a freshly severed pig's head. However, the Nativity scene was whole again after a woman dropped her very own baby Jesus statue to complete the sacred scene.
In the morning of Dec. 25, the parishioners of the Sacred Hearts Church in Haverhill were dismayed when they discovered the baby Jesus from the church's Nativity scene was stolen. According to CBS Boston, the authorities reported that the person who took the statue replaced it with a pig's head.
The appalling incident on Thursday morning prompted Haverhill officials to urge the public for assistance in finding the stolen baby Jesus statue and whoever stole it from the church's Nativity scene. Boston Globe reported that Mayor James J. Fiorentini spoke at a news conference on Friday, where he called the crime at the Sacred Heart Parish on South Main Street as "an outrage."
"I'm absolutely outraged by this incident, which does have all the elements of a hate crime," Fiorentini said. "I want to state in the strongest possible way that this does not reflect our community."
At around 15 minutes past 7 in the morning Thursday, Sacred Hearts' Reverend John Delaney told Haverhill authorities that Reverend Ben LeTran discovered the baby Jesus was taken and was replaced by a freshly severed head of a pig. Boston.com reported the latter was reportedly preparing for the Christmas morning mass.
"It's just a really hurtful commentary on society, and for someone to do this sad deed is really shocking," Rev. Delaney said. "[The parishioners] were heartbroken, they're horrified, and they're outraged by this act."
Meanwhile, Haverhill Police said the pig's head that replaced the stolen baby Jesus statue on the Nativity scene was not the kind being sold on a butcher shop, as reported by Fox News.
"This particular pig is not the kind of pig that would be sold at a butcher shop," Haverhill Police Department spokesperson Lieutenant Robert P. Pistone said. "Usually they would remove all the hair."
Though the stolen baby Jesus was now replaced, Haverhill Mayor Fiorentini said the incident absolutely infuriated him.
"It absolutely infuriates me on any day, but particularly on the most holy days of Christendom and Catholicism," the mayor said.
Brenda Burns, the woman who donated her family's baby Jesus statue in replacement of Haverhill's stolen one, said that she was doing it to make a difference.
"I can't change the world, but I can change my city," Burns said. "I'm bringing this, and I'm asking everybody to do the same. Make a statement. You don't have to come here and hold a sign to be destructive. Just come to let everybody who drives by know. Not here. Not my city."
Below is the graphic photo of Haverhill's Nativity scene as the stolen baby Jesus statue was replaced by a pig's head.
Haverhill police released this picture of pig head placed in church's nativity on Christmas. Reaction at noon. #wbz pic.twitter.com/IHzaXos6nU
— Chris McKinnon (@chrisWBZ) December 26, 2014
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