The theft of a reliquary containing the blood of John Paul II
has been linked to Satanism by an Italian consumer rights lobby.
That
remarkable assertion was made by the Italian Anti-Plagiarism
Observatory in the wake of reports of the theft of a gold reliquary and a
crucifix from a church in San Pietro della Ienca, at the foot of the
Gran Sasso mountain in Abruzzo.
Since
2011, the church of San Pietro della Ienca has become a sanctuary
dedicated to the memory of the late Pope John Paul II.
The handsome
little church, picturesquely situated beneath the snow-covered Gran
Sasso, is right in the heart of a mountainous region much loved by the
late Pope.
Legend has it that, in the early days
of his pontificate, John Paul II would occasionally slip out of the
Vatican during the winter months to go ski-ing on the Gran Sasso. In his
later years, he continued to visit the area, this time restricting
himself to long walks in the hills.
Given his attachment to the area, the Pope’s
long time private secretary, the current Archbishop of Cracow, Cardinal
Stanislaw Dziwisz, in August 2011 donated a gold reliquary, containing a
small amount of the late Pope’s blood, to the church of San Pietro
della Ienca.
On Sunday morning, however, a custodian discovered that the
church had been broken into and that both the reliquary and a crucifix
were missing. More than 50 policemen, aided by sniffer
dogs, searched the area close to the church in the belief that the
thieves might have immediately dumped the stolen objects.
Some
commentators, however, have suggested that the fact that nothing other
than the crucifix and reliquary were stolen from the little mountainside
church might mean that this was a “commissioned” robbery.
Local
politician Pasquale Corriere, much involved in the promotion of Gran
Sasso tourism based around the figure of John Paul II, said yesterday
that there were only three such reliquaries in existence.
Meanwhile,
the head of the Anti-Plagiarism Observatory, Giovanni Panunzio,
suggested that the theft might be linked to Satanism, given that the end
of January represents a key moment in the Satanic calendar.
Some
Satanic cults see the period of January 20-27 as a time for the
“abduction, ceremonial preparation and holding of a sacrificial victim
for Candlemas”, a feast day celebrated along with other “satanic revels”
on February 2nd.
In more prosaic terms, it is
arguable that any reliquary linked to John Paul II is about to increase
greatly in value, given that next April 27th, along with the late Pope
John XXIII, he will be canonised by Pope Francis, making both Popes
saints.