'Baby Jesus': Crying newborn discovered abandoned in church nativity scene

Just hours old, baby boy found abandoned in church

A newborn baby was found abandoned in a New York church nativity scene. Just hours after entering the world, the church's custodian discovered the full-term infant wrapped in purple towels crying in the Queens' Holy Child Jesus Church's nativity scene.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - "I was in the church sweeping," Jose Moran told the Daily News. "Then I hear a child crying. I didn't make much of it. I thought there was somebody in the church with a child."

"I looked around and didn't see anyone," he recalled. "That got me curious. I followed the cries. I walked to the little nativity home we had installed inside the church ... I couldn't believe my eyes. The baby was wrapped in towels. He still had his umbilical cord. He was next to the Virgin (Mary)."

According to Moran, the church had just finished setting up the nativity scene about an hour before the discovery of the child, now nicknamed "Baby Jesus."

"At least whoever abandoned him brought him to a safe place and didn't leave him to die."

The baby was taken to the Jamaica Hospital and determined healthy. He remains in the care of the Administration of Children's Services while cops attempt to track down his mother.

A woman was caught on surveillance video waling into the church with the baby and exiting a few minutes later with no child. The same woman was also found on camera at a .99 Cents & Up store purchasing towels, about a block away from the church.

"God works in mysterious ways," expressed Father Christopher Heanue, explaining that at least one parishioner has offered to adopt the baby, referred to by some as John the Baptist. "(The child's mother) must have been in a difficult place in her life. She found in this crèche ... this empty place where Jesus will be in a few weeks ... as a home for her son."

According to New York's Safe Haven Law, churches, hospitals, police stations and firehouses are all designated "safe havens" where unwanted newborns, under 30 days old, can be left with no questions asked.

"We can't imagine the desperation she must have gone through, but placing the baby in the manger where Jesus is born ... she wanted him to be close to Christ," Brooklyn-Queens Diocese spokeswoman Rocio Fidalgo stated to Daily News. "We may never meet her, but our prayers are with her."

It is unclear whether the mother will face charges for not letting anyone know where the baby was.

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