Advertisement

Pectoral Cross Bequeathed by Late Pope Benedict XVI to Parish in Bavaria, Germany, Stolen

Pope Benedict XVI at the World Family Meeting in Milan with Cardinal Angelo Scola on June 4, 2012. | Credit: CNA/World Meeting of Families 2012

By AC Wimmer

Bavaria, 20 June, 2023 / 12:00 pm (ACI Africa).

A pectoral cross bequeathed by the late Pope Benedict XVI to a parish in his native Bavaria has been stolen from the church where it was on display.

According to CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language partner news agency, unknown perpetrators broke open a display case on the wall of St. Oswald’s Church in the city of Traunstein during daylight hours Monday.

Police said cash was also stolen from the cash register of a literature stand in the church.

The value of the cross to the Catholic Church is “not quantifiable,” the police said. Authorities are asking anyone who saw anyone suspicious near St. Oswald’s on Monday or has any other information to come forward. The Traunstein district attorney’s office is leading the investigation.

Pope Benedict XVI bequeathed a pectoral cross to St. Oswald’s Church in the city of Traunstein in Bavaria after his retirement in 2013. The cross was stolen June 19, 2023, from the church. Credit: Bavarian Police/CNA Deutsch

Advertisement

Former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was born in the small Bavarian community of Marktl am Inn. When Joseph was 2 years old, his father moved the family to Traunstein, where he studied at the seminary.

According to a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising, the late pontiff celebrated his first Mass as a newly ordained priest at St. Oswald’s in 1951. After the renovation in 2020, the cross was exhibited in the now-broken display case.

On Tuesday the Traunstein Regional Court was scheduled to hear the case of a plaintiff who is suing the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising and Benedict’s heirs for damages. The man says he was sexually abused by Father Peter Hullermann during the time the future pope was archbishop of Munich.

In February 2022, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI personally asked for forgiveness from abuse survivors in a letter responding to a report that faulted his handling of cases during his tenure.

Trending

You may also like

The Vatican and Microsoft have created a 3D digital model of St. Peter’s Basilica using the latest in artificial intelligence to offer a new way to experience the nearly 2,000-year history of the tomb of St. Peter. / Credit: Microsoft La Basilica Di San Pietro: AI-Enhanced Experience

Discover the History of St. Peter’s Basilica in New Microsoft Oline AI-enhanced 3D Model

Accessible worldwide at virtual.basilicasanpietro.va, the free interactive platform allows anyone in the world to “visit” the virtual 3D model of...

An external view of the Chapel of the Ascension on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem during the procession of the Franciscan friars after the first vespers of the Ascension solemnity on May 8, 2024. The procession circled the chapel three times. / Credit: Marinella Bandini

Catholics Ascend to Mount Olives, Site of Jesus’ Ascension, Only Day They Can Use Chapel Currently Under Muslim Control

“I’m excited to have come to pray in the actual place of the Ascension... I want to be closer to...

Pope Francis arriving at the meeting with bishops, priests, deacons, consecrated persons, seminarians and catechists in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Dili, East Timor, Sept. 10, 2024. / Vatican Media

Catholics in East Timor Welcome Pope Francis to their Island "oasis" of Religious Vocations

Speaking in Dili's cathedral, Pope Francis challenged East Timor's Catholic leaders to renew evangelization efforts, declaring that the nation's position...