Abbot Paul, now back at Belmont had a frightening encounter with bandits in Peru. Now safely back at Belmont, although planning to return to Peru in the near future, he spoke to the Hereford Times who led their 7th June edition with the following story:
THE Abbot of
Belmont has survived an attack by armed bandits in a Peruvian desert during
which he and a companion were held captive with guns to their heads. Father
Paul Stonham believed he was close to death after being stripped and robbed
while on his way to his monastery in northern Peru. "I was lying there
in the sand, in the dark and made an act of contrition, confessing all my
sins, and got ready for death. I asked God why he had brought me here, to
die,'' said Father Paul. The Abbot arrived back in Hereford last Friday and
spoke to The Hereford Times of his ordeal. "It was a terrifying experience,
but I am still alive. But I have some very bad moments remembering it,'' he
confessed.
Father Paul became
the Abbot of Belmont before Christmas but went to Peru last month to tie up
administration at the Belmont community's monastery at Tambogrande where he
had previously served for nearly 20 years. His ordeal took place on May 17
when he and a Peruvian companion were delivering a new 10- seater Toyota land
cruiser on the 800-mile journey from Lima to the monastery. About 200 miles
from their destination they were stopped by a burst tyre. On investigation
they found a big slit, and heard the sound of a rear tyre deflating. "We
had almost completed changing the wheel when four men came out of the dark,
armed with guns,'' said the Abbot. It was then he realised the damage to the
tyres had been caused by knives stuck in wood and placed on the road. "The
men were quite vicious. They took us about 200 yards into the desert and we
had to strip off to our underpants. We were a sorry sight,'' said the Abbot.
The robbers stole
everything, including ££1,200 in dollars, which Father Paul had
hidden in his trousers and was to be given to the poor near the monastery.
Three of the men returned to the vehicle while the fourth stood over the victims
with a gun to their heads. "We were lying on our stomachs in the sand
and it was very cold. We did not know if we were going to be shot,'' said
the Abbot. The robbers stripped the vehicle, including the radio, a camera,
watches, the Abbot's ring and pectoral cross and his English bible which he
had purchased the week before in Hereford to mark his appointment as Abbot.
They also took his address book and diaries and passport. "Of no use
to them, but very valuable to me,'' said Father Paul. The robbers also got
away with two large cases owned by Father Simon McGurk, who has just joined
the monastery in Peru after three years as parish priest at St Francis Xavier
Church in Hereford. The cases included all his books, theology notes, CDs,
art equipment and video camera but not the lap top computer and digital camera
given to him by parishioners and children when he left Hereford. The Abbot
said he lay in the desert for some time to ensure the robbers had gone, before
moving. "We managed to recover our trousers and shoes, which they had
thrown away and crawled through the bushes back to the road. We had to wait
for the first car to come along before we could get help,'' Father Paul said
he did not believe he was targeted by the bandits. "They set a trap on
the road, hoping for a bus with lots of passengers to rob. But they got away
with about ££15,000 worth of goods. Fortunately they could not
take the vehicle because of the tyres.''
The Abbot will return to Peru in the future. "Ninety-nine per cent of Peruvians are wonderful people, just a few are corrupt and nasty,'' he said. The people responsible were organised gangs of thieves who became rich from stealing from the poor. A few days after the Abbot's ordeal he heard the news of another person in the same area being robbed of his money and then being shot dead.
It is the second time the Belmont community's monastery at Tambogrande has been involved in a violent incident. Six years ago bandits drove up armed with machine guns and tried to take away the community's land cruiser. Neighbours blocked the road with stones and branches preventing a getaway. The gang blasted the tyres with a machine gun and drove away in a smaller vehicle, stolen from the monks.