Items stolen from Minnesota archbishop's residence irreplaceable

Published: 2008-07-02

ST. PAUL, Minn. (CNS) -- Father Lee Piche had to break the news to Archbishop John C. Nienstedt of St. Paul and Minneapolis, who was on his way to Germany from Rome June 30, that his residence had been broken into early June 28 and that a safe with some personal items and some historical items was taken. "My guess is that it was opportunistic, based on the knowledge that he was out of town, but that it was done by professionals," said Father Piche, archdiocesan vicar general and moderator of the curia. "We might have found a source for some pictures of some of the historical items that were taken," he told The Catholic Spirit, the archdiocesan newspaper. Those items include several pectoral crosses and rings of former archbishops of St. Paul. The thief, or thieves, got onto a first-floor roof and broke a second-story window that was 2 to 3 inches thick, which gave them access to the archbishop's bedroom, said Dennis McGrath, archdiocesan communications director. The stolen items are irreplaceable, he said.

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