A PRIEST has been threatened by two men brandishing a hammer in the fourth attack on religious orders in less than a month. Fr Peter O'Kane was praying in St Colmcille's Church in Holywood, Co Down, when he was confronted by the gang who forced him into the parochial house from where they stole money. It happened shortly after 6pm on Tuesday and although Fr O'Kane, who is in his early fifties, was not injured he was left badly shaken by the ordeal. In a statement Fr O'Kane said he had managed to escape and raise the alarm. "I was praying in the church at 6.10pm when two men approached me and forcibly brought me into the sacristy and then over to the office and the parochial house," he said. "I managed to escape from them when we returned to the sacristy. The police were then alerted. They made off with a sum of money." It was the fourth such incident in as many weeks. On October 30 Fr Dermot Maloney, left, was struck with a hammer and had a tooth knocked out when three teenagers attacked him at his isolated parochial house in Jonesborough. The intruders locked Fr Maloney in a bathroom. He had to climb out of the window to raise the alarm. His attackers, the youngest of whom is believed to be around 14-years-old, made off with envelopes containing a small sum of money that was due to be given to charity. Less than a fortnight earlier two men conned their way into the parochial house in Crossmaglen and, while they did not injure Fr Liam McKinney, they stole cash from the property which is around 10 miles from Fr Maloney's home. On October 22 two nuns were attacked in their home beside St John's Church on the Falls Road in west Belfast by a man who demanded money. One of the sisters was treated at the scene for minor injuries while the other needed hospital treatment for shock. Police have said they are investigating a link between the two robberies in south Armagh but yesterday said they did not believe they were connected to the incident in Holywood. Fr Edward McGee from the diocese of Down and Connor said Fr O'Kane had been "overwhelmed" by the messages of support he has received but that the level of aggression present in the robberies was "deeply concerning". He said although measures are in place in the diocese to ensure large sums of money are not kept on parish grounds priests were vulnerable due to the nature of their work. Fr Sean McDonagh from the Association of Catholic Priests, said the organisation was "very perturbed" and that falling vocations meant many priests often lived alone. He said there had been a number of such incidents in the Republic, including the robbery in March of Co Galway priest Fr Pat O'Brien who was tied up by four intruders. "We would advise priests to invest in a decent alarm system and not to have cash in the house, although that is very difficult, particularly at weekends," Fr McDonagh said. * 'DEEPLY CONCERNING': St Colmcille's Church on High Street, Holywood, Co Down, where Fr Peter O'Kane was left badly shaken after robbers threatened him with a hammer before making off with some cash PICTURE: Mal McCann
