This Christmas crime qualifies as one of year's most unholy

As burglaries go, it was routine.

The thieves broke into the locked house in the usual way: by smashing a window.

Once inside, they rampaged, kicking in doors and ripping through papers. They grabbed credit cards and electronic equipment and other personal belongings.

They then jacked the Toyota SUV in the garage and sped away.

The car was recovered. But the laptop, DVD player and God knows what else are still missing.

In Virginia, where there were an estimated 31,000 reported burglaries in 2007, this was just another break-in.

Then again, maybe not.

Virginia Beach police say incident No. 2008072588 likely happened on Dec. 25. The victim was a priest - t he pastor of Star of the Sea Catholic Church at the Oceanfront.

Honestly. What kind of self-respecting burglar breaks into a rectory on Christmas to steal the belongings of a clergyman?

December's a busy month for priests, what with holy days and confessions and services packed with worshippers. So after Father Esteban "Steve" DeLeon said his final Mass on Christmas Day, he left for a religious retreat in Georgia.

Within hours, thieves had smashed the dining room window of the house near the church at the South End of the Beach. They rifled through DeLeon's belongings and those of a visiting priest from the Philippines. In fact, they took all of the Christmas gifts that the Rev. Arnel Belamide had bought to take home to his nephews and nieces.

When I spoke with him Monday, I asked DeLeon if it was possible the crooks didn't know they were robbing a priest.

Oh, they knew, DeLeon said with certainty.

First, there was the sign by the door directing

official church business to the nearby office. Beyond that, the credit card - the one the creeps used on Dec. 26 - was issued to the Rev. Esteban DeLeon. And, assuming the thieves could read, they had to notice that among the papers they rifled was a letter from the bishop.

"I'm just glad I had my passport and green card with me," sighed DeLeon, who's also a native of the Philippines.

In case the burglars haven't noticed by now, there's something special about the Dell laptop they lifted. The cheerful pastor who begins and ends most homilies with a joke has all his material in it. His notes, his sermons and his copious collection of comic stories.

"I have a memory stick, and I meant to back up everything," DeLeon confessed. "But I was busy and planned to do it when I got back."

At the 12 o'clock service on Sunday, DeLeon apologized for that day's jokes, saying the burglars got his library of good ones.

Turning serious, DeLeon told the congregation that after the shock of the burglary receded, he worried whether the culprits committed

the crime out of some "dire need."

"Back home in the Philippines, when people steal something, it's because they're in dire need," DeLeon explained later. "They maybe have a loved one in the hospital and need to pay a bill."

But when the priest peered into his damaged Toyota Rav4 that had traveled about 300 miles without him and saw the cigarette butts, the busted window and realized even his vestments were missing, he understood that these thieves weren't modern-day Jean Valjeans, stealing to feed their families.

"This is really a pity," DeLeon said. "They disrespected themselves by doing this."

Still, it's the holiday season, so I think I'll offer up a

little prayer for the punks

who robbed a priest on Christmas.

I'm praying they get caught.

Kerry Dougherty, (757) 446-2306, kerry.dougherty@cox.net