Shrine Disappears!

Recently the shrine which had been erected in the former baptistry to Our Lady of Perpetual Succour at St Brigid's church Gwynneville, under the former Dean of the Cathedral, Fr. G Schmidtzer has mysteriously disappeared.

The shrine had consisted of a baroque style altar and a print of the Our Lady of perpetual help. Drapes were behind the framed print and a votive lamp hung before it. One of the more tasteful shrines of this kind in the diocese some parishoners have expressed surprise at it's dismatling.

The image of Our Lady of Perpetual Help is now on the floor against the side wall but what has become of the altar? The former baptistry is now home to two plaster statues one of the Sacred Heart and the other of Our Lady, poorer representations than the ones now prominently placed in the main body of the church (they could very well be the original statues).

In any event there placement in the chapel is a pointless duplication and certainly raises some questions - :

1. Has the new Dean arbitrarly removed the shrine?
2. Or after wide consultation found that so great was devotion to the images now replicated in the chapel that it was necessary to have two lots?
3. Has Fr. Schmitzer decided to retrieve the baroque altar for some other use?

If anyone know's the back ground to the shrine's dismanteling, Wollongonensis would be very happy to hear from you.