Stolen relic of Pope John Paul II

An investigation opened in France following the disappearance of a relic from Pope John Paul II which was exhibited in the basilica of Paray-le-Monial, in the east of the country, a place of pilgrimage where the pontiff celebrated a mass in 1986.

The relic consists of a 1 cm square piece of cloth, stained with the blood of John Paul II on the occasion of the attempted attack of which he was the victim in May 1981 in St. Peter's Square.

It was made by the local newspaper, Le Journal de Saone-et-Loire.

The gendarmes investigate after the complaint presented by the parish for the theft, which took place "between 8 and 9 January" - confirmed the Macon prosecutor - and discovered "in the evening, by the sacristan who closes the basilica daily".

The relic was in one of the three chapels, "in a small box placed under a glass bell", under the photo of the Polish pope. It had been donated to the church by the archbishop of Krakow in 2016, in memory of the narrow escape of John Paul I.