Historic basilica robbed

Published Date: June 30, 2009

Thieves have looted the historic Santhome basilica in this southern Indian city, stealing money from four wooden donation boxes that they broke open.

The basilica, which is an international shrine, is believed to be the burial site of Saint Thomas the Apostle who is said to have preached in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, and to have been killed by a Hindu extremist in 72 A.D.

Parish priest Father Kanikai Raj said the robbery was discovered on June 26 when the church opened for morning Mass.

The priest said the collection boxes contained four days´ worth of donations amounting to a few hundred thousand rupees. The police have formed special teams to investigate.

Father Raj says the police believe the thieves may have entered the church as devotees and hidden in the building. After breaking into the boxes they then could have escaped by mingling with devotees after the church opened for worship.

It is the second major robbery in a church in Chennai this year. Nearly 100,000 rupees (US$2,079) were stolen from the Our Lady of Vailankanni, a popular city shrine, in January.

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