Church pleads for return of stolen relic
TORONTO, ON—St Michael's Cathedral is reviewing its security measures after a relic of St Therese of Lisieux was stolen by a visitor during public viewing hours.
The relic is about the size of a quarter and is a first-class relic, meaning it is recognized by the Vatican as a piece of a saint's physical remains. It had been housed in a Plexiglas case at the base of a statue.
The thief might have been mistaken for someone in prayer, according to Neil MacCarthy, director of communications for the Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto.
"It is quite common for people to lay their hands on the relic while praying," he says. "The ushers would not have disturbed someone who was kneeling down with their hands on the relic."
A case holding a relic of St Anthony had also been tampered with. Now this relic and others are off public viewing.
A piece of wood believed to be part of the cross on which Jesus was crucified was also stolen from St Michael's in 2000. Such thefts are rare, says MacCarthy.
He adds that without a certificate of authenticity from the Vatican, which the thief was unable to steal, St Therese's relic will have no value on the black market.
"The cathedral is now reviewing the best way to display relics," MacCarthy says. "They are very small, most of them, and sadly one of the realities of being in the downtown core is we have to be diligent about making sure those precious items are protected."
The cathedral, situated near Yonge Street and Dundas Street, receives hundreds of tourists and worshippers through its doors every day.
"The challenge for us is that the relics are important symbols of our faith," says MacCarthy, "and the point is not to keep them locked away. We want to be able to make them available to the community. But we need to balance that with diligently protecting valuable pieces of our faith's history."
The Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto is currently looking at a broader program on how to inventory their sacred and historical objects.
"It wasn't driven by this," MacCarthy says, "but these kinds of occurrences really reinforce the importance of being able to document our history and the objects that are part of the story of our faith."
St Michael's rector, Michael Busch, has made a public appeal for the return of the relic. No questions will be asked, he says.
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