An escalating wave of sacrilegious thefts of wafers strikes across Italy

The Archbishop of Monreale encourages parishes to lock up the Eucharist, with a green light from the Holy See
Giacomo Galeazzi
Vatican City
3/28/12

Excerpt:
Every case seems to go according to the same script, with the underlying signature of followers of the occult: sacristies cracked open by the tools of thieves, the theft of containers of hosts, tabernacles split in two. There have been pyxes stolen from the parish of St. John Bosco in Vasto, goblets with wafers that disappeared from the church of St. Vito in Paestum; wafers removed from the hospital chapel of Biancavilla (Catania), and a night raid on the parish of St. Catherine on the Ionian Sea (Catanzaro). Also targeted by the sacrilegious thieves was the sanctuary of the Madonna delle Grazie in Monza, and other places of worship in the diocese of Milan in Bereggio and Lentate sul Seveso. And their work was seen again at the Santissimo Nome di Maria in Fornaci Vecchia (Lucca), the church of St. Franca at Piacenza, and the Black Madonna of Monte Nero at Sant’Antonio di Gallura. They have attacked the diocese of Monreale with a particular fury, with four incidents within the last three months (Villagrazia Carini, Terrasini, Cinisi, Partinico).

From north to south, an unbroken chain of profanity is evidence of the boom of Satanist groups, recently discussed in a law enforcement report, powered by the Internet jungle drum. At Santa Croce sull’Arno at Montegranaro, near Ascoli Piceno, the incursions into sacred places have no other purpose than the theft of the wafers, casting the shadow of Satan onto many events in the news. "The Eucharist is the supreme good of the Church - canon 1367 of the Code of Canon Law speaks clearly on the subject," says De Paolis. "It is a crime to steal consecrated items from the tabernacle and to treat them impiously and blasphemously. Thus the protection of the hosts is a priority. If it is necessary to keep them locked up away from the tabernacle, the exceptional danger justifies an ‘ad hoc’ measure as a defensive reaction." the rest