Rome Newsroom, Sep 24, 2020 / 07:00 am
This week a relic of St. Pope John Paul II was stolen from a cathedral in central Italy, while a church in Sicily was also robbed and the Eucharist desecrated.
A gold reliquary with a relic of the blood of St. John Paul II was discovered to be missing from a chapel of the Cathedral Basilica of Spoleto on the evening of Sept. 23, according to the Italian daily L'Avvenire.
In a video message Sept. 24, the archbishop of Spoleto said he received the news of the theft with sorrow.
Archbishop Renato Boccardo asked the perpetrator to "return and restore the relic to the cathedral. What I am asking is a gesture of responsibility and seriousness."