Real Newborn Left in Church Nativity Scene

Baby boy was left in NYC church's manger
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 25, 2015 1:21 AM CST
Real Newborn Found in Church Nativity Scene
Stock photo   (Shutterstock)

A janitor who heard a baby crying in an empty New York City church was astonished to find a real newborn baby in the church's Nativity scene with its umbilical cord still attached. Jose Moran tells the New York Daily News that he found the baby after returning from his lunch break on Monday, only about an hour after the manger was set up in the Holy Child Jesus Church in Queens. Police say the baby boy, who was found wrapped in a blanket, was brought to a hospital and found to be in good health. "At least whoever abandoned him brought him to a safe place and didn't leave him to die," Moran says. "I hope he finds the right home. He's a miracle baby." Police are trying to track down the newborn's mother.

New York has a "safe haven" law allowing people to drop off unwanted newborns at places like churches, hospitals, and fire stations, reports the AP, but the mother could still face charges because the law requires authorities to be immediately informed of the baby's whereabouts. One of the church's parishioners has already offered to adopt the boy. "God works in mysterious ways," Father Christopher Heanue tells the Daily News. The infant was "a kind of gift to the church in a poetic way, so we'd love to see it stay in the community," he says. (Last year, Joseph proposed to Mary during a break from a Michigan church's live Nativity scene.)

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