Czech police arrested a man who they said stole what is believed to be the skull of a saint, before he encased it in concrete and planned to throw it in a river.
The theft of the skull, thought to be that of Saint Zdislava of Lemberk, took place on Tuesday at the Basilica of St. Lawrence and St. Zdislava in Jablonne v Podjestedi, a town about 50 miles north of Prague, the police said in a statement on Friday.
The skull was housed in an ornate glass case, which someone smashed with a blunt object shortly before an evening mass, said Msgr. Pavel Schrotter, a spokesman for the church. A priest in the building heard two loud bangs before he spotted someone darting out of the church, according to local news reports. The basilica’s alarm had been turned off in preparation for the Mass, Monsignor Schrotter said.
The police said the man they arrested was seen on security footage at the church around the time of the theft, dressed in black. After he left the building, he changed clothes and fled in a taxi, they told local news media.
The man, a 35-year-old whom the police did not name, was eventually traced back to Mlada Boleslav, a town about 25 miles from the church, the police said. When officers confronted him at his home, he admitted taking the skull, the police said, but refused to reveal its location.
After an interrogation, the police said, the man divulged the fate of the relic: He had sealed it in concrete and had planned to toss it into a river. The man, they said, disagreed with the church keeping the skull on display, and wanted to bury it.
The police said they used special equipment to locate the skull in a concrete object, which they declined to describe, citing ongoing criminal proceedings. Restoration experts would try to extract the skull from the concrete, the police said.
“I am glad that the police have located the relic, and I am grateful to everyone who contributed to this,” Stanislav Pribyl, the Archbishop of Prague, said in a statement on Saturday.
Saint Zdislava (ZDEE-slah-vah) lived in the region from about 1220 to 1252. She was a noblewoman and one of the earliest lay members of the Dominican Catholic order. She married a count, with whom she had a strained relationship, and was known for her generosity to the poor. She is a patron saint of families and difficult marriages, and was believed to have performed several miracles, including restoring sight to the blind and raising the dead.
She was canonized in 1995 by Pope John Paul II. Monsignor Schrotter said she was buried on the site of the basilica, a masterpiece of Central-European Baroque architecture constructed around the turn of the 18th Century over an earlier church.
After the skull was stolen, the church condemned the theft, saying it was an attack on its spiritual heritage. Archbishop Pribyl even warned of divine retribution.
“It could happen that some curse or misfortune may befall that thief,” he said in a statement to Radio Prague International. “That is not a threat, it is reality — such things do happen.”
The man, who is being held in jail, was charged with theft, disorderly conduct and damaging personal property, the police said. He faces up to eight years in prison if convicted.
The church said it hopes to have the skull back on display by the end of the month, when a pilgrimage to the church in honor of Saint Zdislava is scheduled to take place. Once it is returned, Archbishop Pribyl said, the church plans to protect the skull with bulletproof glass and a dedicated alarm.
“However, I would not like churches to become impenetrable vaults,” he said. “They are places where people encounter God and one another, and they should remain open — but of course, there must be a certain level of manageable risk.”