At the small Church of San Pietro della Lenca in Italy, a vial of blood from Pope John Paul II was stolen recently. The break-in was discovered by a custodian this past Sunday and a region wide manhunt is underway. The thieves also stole a large crucifix along with the gold reliquary containing the vial of blood.

The late Pope John Paul ll will be named a saint in April and the artifacts from his life will be valuable. It’s not known at this time if the artifacts will be sold or if they were stolen to be kept for religious reasons.

Pope John Paul ll died in 2005. During his life he loved the area where his artifacts were kept; he would ski and hike in the mountains and pray at the tiny church.

The vial of blood was placed in the vial after an attempt on the Pope’s life in 1981 in St. Peter’s Square.

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