The Mâcon prosecutor's office has opened a preliminary investigation after the disappearance of a relic of Pope John Paul II exhibited in the basilica of Paray-le-Monial (Saône-et-Loire), a city of pilgrimage where he celebrated a mass in 1986.
Read alsoMay 13, 1981: Pope John Paul II collapses under the bullets of Ali Agça
It is a 1 cm2 piece of fabric stained by the blood of the sovereign pontiff during his assassination attempt in May 1981, the mayor of Paray-le-Monial, Jean-Marc Nesme, told AFP. , confirming information from the
Journal de Saône-et-Loire
.
The Paray gendarmerie was responsible for carrying out the investigation after a complaint lodged by the parish, as confirmed by the Mâcon prosecutor's office to AFP.
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The theft would have taken place “between January 8 and 9”
The theft would have taken place "
between January 8 and 9
", and was discovered "
in the evening, by the sexton who closed the basilica
", according to the mayor. The relic was in one of the three chapels of the basilica, "
in a small box, placed under a glass bell
", under a photo of the Polish pope. The relic had been given to the parish by the Archbishop of Krakow in 2016, in memory of the assassination attempt of May 13, 1981 which earned thirty years in prison for an ultranationalist Turkish activist. The Muslim had opened fire on the sovereign pontiff in St. Peter's Square in the Vatican in Rome, then justifying his action with a "
divine mission
".
"Close
ties
" unite the Marian town of Paray-le-Monial and John Paul II, who presided over a mass there in October 1986 "
in front of 150,000 faithful
", according to Jean-Marc Nesme, who had responsibilities in the group of France-Holy See friendship when he was a deputy.
Considered one of the jewels of the Romanesque churches of Burgundy, the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Paray-le-Monial was built by the monks of Cluny in the 12th century and attracts thousands of believers every year.
Read alsoItaly: theft of a relic of John Paul II from a church in Umbria
One of the two bullets that nearly cost the life of John Paul II has also become a relic: it is set in the solid gold crown of the statue of the Virgin of Our Lady of Fatima, in Portugal, to which the pope vowed particular devotion, convinced that he owed her his life.
