ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Father Steve Rosera at the Immaculate Conception Church in downtown Albuquerque is still finding a way to count his blessings after a Thursday night break-in. 

He saw the church doors wide open, and knew something was off. 

“My first reaction was, did I miss something? You know? Did I have something on my schedule?” said Rosera. 

He says the suspect was still in the church when he got there. 

“I was a little bit nervous, obviously, because I didn’t know where that person was, I couldn’t see inside the church,” Rosera said. 

He says the police showed up before he had to risk going inside. Now that the initial shock has worn off, he doesn’t know how to feel. 

“It’s kind of a mixture of things, you know, you’re angry that it’s happened again. It’s not the first time, you know, and then there’ that just a kind of a sadness, you know, that people act out in this way and also act out damaging what like this is a house of worship,” said Rosera. 

Rosera says he thinks whoever did this used a fire extinguisher to smash through the wall. The suspect broke glass, splintered wood, and did a lot of damage to original church items that are at least 100 years old. 

“This is one of the candlesticks that he used as a, you know, a weapon trying to hammer whatever he could,” Rosera said. 

Rosera says the sentimental value of those items alone — are priceless.

“For me, that was probably the most hurtful thing, more than glass, glass we can sweep up and throw away and get the company to come in, they pop in a new sheet of glass, and you’re done. Things like that, symbols, you know, when symbols are disrespected, I think that hits a different nerve,” said Rosera. 

He showed us the damage to one very important symbol. 

“This is the crucifix in the reconciliation room that he bashed in,” Rosera said. 

Rosera has been working at the church for three and a half years, and has seen four break-ins, including another one last month. 

“It’s downtown. It’s kind of a rough little neighborhood, you know?” Rosera said. 

He says he’s glad no one was hurt, but the $10 to $15,000 in repairs still stings.  

“Even though it was bad enough, you know, it could have been worse,” said Rosera. 

Rosera says services have not been interrupted, but the cleanup process did take a while. 

KOB 4 reached out to Albuquerque police about the break-in and arrest. A representative told us they weren’t able to track down the suspect information for us Sunday night.