May 14--Dozens of gold chains, wedding bands and gold crosses used to adorn statues were illegally removed from Our Lady of Mount Carmel, a Catholic church in Melrose Park, according to a suit filed Wednesday in Cook County Circuit Court.
The Archdiocese of Chicago filed a lawsuit against three people it alleges took the items from a church shrine before and during 2013. The three were members of the Society of the Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, according to the suit.
The removed jewelry included roughly one dozen large 14-carat gold chains from 16 to 36 inches long, roughly five gold crosses on small chains as well as crowns, pins, precious jewels and broaches. Jewels were also taken from a safe deposit box at a bank, according to the suit. Removed gowns included two infant cream-colored dresses with matching capes, a 1940s-era cream-colored cape and wigs.
The value of the items is "not ascertainable," but it is more than $100,000, according to the suit.
After written and oral demands were made to return the items, the archdiocese sent a letter last July and another one last month demanding that the items be returned, the suit said.
"Despite the demands for its return, the property has not been recovered and is being unlawfully retained," according to the suit. "... The property has not been taken for any tax, assessment or fine levied by virtue of any law of this state against the property of the Archdiocese of Chicago, nor seized under any lawful execution or attachment, or held by virtue of any order of replevin against Plaintiff."
Christine Caliendo, one of the defendants, said Thursday that she was preparing a statement explaining that the suit is only a small part of a larger story.
"Please be aware there's a great deal more than gold here," Caliendo said. "There's a whole big story here we have been asked to be quiet about for a year and a half, two years, ... it's not something that should be being done by the church."
mmrodriguez@tribune.com
