According to police reports, a cross that was given to a parish in Bavaria, Germany, by the late Pope Benedict XVI, has been stolen from the church where it was on display. Unknown individuals broke open a display case within the town church in Traunstein, and the cross was taken between the time 11:45 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Monday, as stated by Bavaria’s state criminal police office. The stolen cross is described as a pectoral cross, which is typically worn on the chest. Additionally, the police mentioned that money was also stolen from the cash register of a magazine stand within the church.
Religion News Service reports:
BERLIN (AP) — A cross bequeathed by the late Pope Benedict XVI to a parish in his German home region of Bavaria has been stolen from the church where it was exhibited, police said Tuesday.
A display case on the wall of the town church in Traunstein was broken open by unknown perpetrators and the cross was taken sometime between 11:45 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Monday, Bavaria’s state criminal police office said in a statement.
The cross was described as a pectoral cross — one worn on the chest. Police said that cash also was stolen from the till of a magazine stand in the church.
“For the Catholic church, the value of the religious object is not quantifiable,” the police statement said. It called for people who may have seen suspicious individuals around the church on Monday or can give any other information to come forward.
Benedict died on Dec. 31, nearly a decade after becoming the first pope in six centuries to resign.
The missing cross is one of several of its kind, Munich archdiocese spokesman Christoph Kappes said. It was sent to Traunstein after Benedict resigned, and went on display at the location it was stolen from in 2020, he told German news agency dpa.
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