The Diocese of Querétaro, Mexico, reported that Holy Family Chapel in St. Sebastian parish was robbed last week, its tabernacle desecrated, and the Eucharist thrown to the ground.

In an April 9 statement, the diocese expressed its “sadness and concern” that the church “was violated” the night of April 8.

“They destroyed some things and sacred objects. They threw the Eucharistic Species on the floor and stole some of the pixes,” the diocese said.

The statement, signed by the chancellor, asked “the Christian community to join together to offer God a Solemn Eucharistic Vigil, as an act of reparation for the sacrilege against the Most Holy Body and Blood of Our Lord.”

The statement also called on the episcopal vicar for pastoral ministry, Father Rogelio Olvera Vargas, “to increase the security of the churches and chapels, and to continue promoting perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.”

 “Let us pray to God for the repentance and the conversion of those who, without the fear of God, dare to carry out such sad and painful actions, which attack the sanctity of the Eucharist, but above all are detrimental to those who commit them,” they said.

The Mexican diocese also noted that Canon 1367 of the Code of Canon Law warns, “A person who throws to the ground the consecrated species or takes or retains them for a sacrilegious purpose incurs a latae sententiae excommunication reserved to the Apostolic See.”

The Mexican diocese urged: “May this type of aggression and offense against Our Lord Jesus Christ and his Holy Name encourage us, in an organized manner, to strengthen our efforts to guard and watch over of the tabernacles in our churches, so that no tabernacle is left unattended.”