Saint’s Relics Stolen

On January 4th, 2013, many precious saints’ relics were discovered as missing from Ste. Genevieve Catholic Church in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri. The artifacts were sealed inside of nine containers, and the artifacts themselves included such items as pieces of a saint’s actual body or a scrap of a saint’s garments. Police are baffled as to why anyone would steal the artifacts, as there is little profit to be made from such items, especially since the thief would not have access to authentication papers. Due to the fact that multiple artifacts were stolen instead of a single item, the local authorities do not believe that the theft occurred for religious reasons. The theft took place sometime between Christmas Eve and January 4th. As of this writing, none of the artifacts have turned up in pawn shops, and it is speculated that the items will slowly be discovered as they are either discarded or sold cheaply, as there is no true street value for any of the relics. This incident marks another theft of religious artifacts (many of which are saints’ relics): a trend that seen increased activity in the country in the past few years.