Sacred Madonna icon targeted in overnight break-in

An attempted theft took place overnight in Basilica di San Luca in Bologna, where the icon of the Madonna, protector of the people of Bologna, is kept, CE Report quotes ANSA.

The archdiocese explained that the nighttime protective casing of the Sacred Image was forced open and the protective glass was shattered “with the aim of stealing some precious elements from the silver covering that leaves the faces of the Madonna and the Child Jesus uncovered.”

Police intervened at the scene. “An initial inspection shows that the Sacred Image does not appear to have sustained visible damage,” the curia stated. “As the people of Bologna, we are deeply shaken and hurt by the outrage against what is dearest to us all, the Virgin Mary, venerated for nine centuries in the Sacred Icon.”