Relic Theft Shocks Paris Church Amid A Rise In Religious Art Crimes
Christophe Alizard, a French Catholic priest, is still in disbelief. In early March, his Saint-Vincent-de-Paul church, located in Paris’s 10th arrondissement, was robbed for the first time.
“When we discovered this, it was a great shock. How can someone steal from a church?" the priest still wondered, pointing to where it happened behind the altar.
The thief stole a religious relic — a piece of fabric from the tunic of the priest Vincent de Paul. Canonized in 1737, this French priest was famous for his work helping the poor, the sick and abandoned children.
READ: How Relic Hunters Helped Build Collection Of Saints’ Artifacts
“There is no good reason to steal from a church, but this theft is very difficult to explain because this relic doesn't really have any financial value,” Alizard added. “But it certainly hurts the faithful and our trust, especially because it is the treasure of the poor that has been stolen.”
The relic, enclosed in a precious metal medallion, was displayed on a box arranged in a glass chest for public viewing. An investigation is underway by the French police. But in the meantime, the faithful remain in shock.
“We often hear about this, but to see something like this happen in our beautiful church, right in the heart of Paris, and apparently in broad daylight, is very shocking,” said Janine, a parishioner who only wanted to be identified by her first name.
Far from isolated, this case reflects a growing wave of church thefts across France targeting religious art. Last year, the French Interior Ministry recorded about 538 thefts of religious items — an 11% increase from the year before. People usually steal things like chalices, statues, paintings, relics and other religious items from churches and other places of worship.
Protecting vulnerable churches
Churches in rural areas, many lightly secured and open to the public, have become easy targets, feeding a discreet but lucrative black market for religious artifacts. According to France’s Observatory for Religious Heritage, these objects are resold in France, for example, in flea markets or on international markets, particularly in Asia.
Faced with this situation, Caroline Biencourt decided to take action. As the curator of heritage for the Diocese of Cambrai in northern France, Biencourt offers training sessions to help churches adopt better security practices for preventing theft.
“The objective is to provide them with practical measures that are easy to implement and not too expensive to make a real difference against theft,” said Biencourt, adding she has already delivered more than ten training sessions.
“The interest has been growing lately, given the situation in France,” she said.
The training focuses on two main objectives. The first one is to encourage places of worship to carry out a full inventory of their objects and understand why it matters.
“Most churches don’t usually do this, but it’s very important in case there is theft, but also if one day there is a fire, for example. They need to be able to know exactly what is in their building to identify the loss later,” Biencourt added.
The second part of the training focuses on simple security measures, adapted to each church’s budget.
“Basically, we teach them basic common-sense measures, like when you're at home,” Biencourt said. “The thief knows where you potentially keep valuable items. So they need to secure the sacristy and then the main altar in the church. We gave them tips, such as leaving a bit of dust on the altar steps to check whether someone has been there beforehand or check the building’s security.”
Strengthen security?
Fear of theft has led some French religious sites to strengthen their security by stopping the practice of leaving their church doors open all the time. But for the Saint-Vincent-de-Paul church in Paris, which was recently burglarized, this is impossible.
“At night, the church is closed, but during the day, it stays open because a church is meant to be open,” Alizard said. “It is due to the encounter between man and God. There is no question of restricting access to the church, of closing it anytime soon. We do not let ourselves be led by people who do evil.”
Biencourt pointed out that leaving the church doors open could, on the contrary, deter thieves in some way.
“The opening of churches is a bit paradoxical because one could say that we are making it easier for thieves to plan their actions, but at the same time, if the church is open, we can also have people visit it and disrupt the theft,” Biencourt said.
Some French churches have also recently made the choice to install CCTV to protect themselves. But it remains a decision that is expensive and whose effects are not always there, believes Biencourt.
“The cameras reassure people and can have a deterrent effect, but they are not the ones who will come and stop the thieves,” Biencourt said. “It also has limits. We can't install them just anywhere.”
Following the recent Louvre Museum robbery in Paris, a National Assembly commission was launched to examine security flaws and improve protection for museums and religious heritage sites across France.
“I really hope that more action will be taken by politicians because we are talking about an important heritage that must be preserved,” Biencourt said.
While French towns and villages are facing growing economic strain with shrinking public budgets, it remains to be seen how much can be done to better protect churches.
Romain Chauvet is a French-Canadian journalist based in Madrid.