"Hate & Vengeance"

In his own strange blend of Christian religion and primitive superstition Angel Sanchez had conceived a powerful devotion for the miracle-working Virgin of El Quinche. A dark, fanatical-looking mestizo, Sanchez even wore a medal of the Virgin pinned through the flesh of his breast. But last week he was locked up ia a Quito jail, charged with stealing the jewels from the highland village shrine where he had worshiped.

Sanchez' explanation was as muddled as his faith. When out of work a few years ago, he had prayed to the Virgin for assistance, and landed a fine job with a U.S. radio crew on the Galapagos Islands. After the yanquis left, hard times came back. He called on the Virgin to help him win the national lottery, but no such miracle took place. Said Sanchez: "From that day I felt in my heart hate and vengeance for the Virgin." He determined to steal the wooden image, and burn it.

On the Altar. Last fortnight Sanchez hid himself in the church which houses the Virgin's shrine. Trembling in the darkness, he waited until midnight, then began to climb the altar. Several candelabra, he testified, fell near him "without anybody having touched them."

His body consumed with fever, his hands racked with cramps, Sanchez wrenched at the figure but found it firmly fixed to the altar. Unable to carry out his original plan, he tore off the statue's jewels, silver crown, scepter and diadem, and the crown of the infant Jesus in her arms.

Bathed in sweat, his head reeling, he huddled at the foot of the altar until the church was opened at dawn, then crept out with the ornaments wrapped in a parcel under his arm. Said Sanchez last week: "I wanted to build at home an image of the Virgin and Child, decorate them with the jewels, then adore them when they behaved well, and spank them when they behaved badly."

Down the Road. When Padre Luis Leon entered the church to say the first Mass of the day, he discovered the desecration, hastily called police. The stolen jewels were only worth about $500 (the Virgin's $30,000 full-dress outfit is kept under lock except for days of special devotion), but they had to be recovered at once; the archbishop himself was paying a visit that day. Police Chief Luis Proafio forbade all cars to leave the village, went out to search with Padre Leon. Some miles down the road, they were hailed by a man standing with his face half hidden in a shawl. It was Angel Sanchez, asking for a lift.

In jail in Quito last week, Sanchez, still burning with fever, said: "My conscience troubles me continuously, and at every moment I remember what I did." Fingering the Virgin's medal at his breast, he sighed: "I do not believe any longer the Virgin will take me out of jail; maybe some charitable person will have mercy on my bitter situation."

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