In Brief
Last month thieves in France robbed and desecrated ten churches in the Diocese of Annecy, in the France’s Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes region.
The perpetrators are believed to be two men who gained access by forcing open the church doors with a crow bar.
In Sainte Marie Madeleine de Morzine parish, the criminals broke open and desecrated two marble tabernacles. In the other churches the robbers stole the poor boxes, ciboria, and chalices.
Bernard Bidaut, communications director for the Diocese of Annecy, told ACI Prensa: “We are careful about our statements. These are not acts of voluntary profanation.”
At the same time, he said, “this is the theft of important liturgical objects (some with consecrated Hosts), but it’s clear this is a classic case of stealing in order to resell the objects”.