A 36-year-old man was arrested Monday for stealing three priceless chalices including a relic of St John Paul II from a Catholic shrine in Milan, judicial sources said Tuesday.
The gold and silver plated chalices were taken from the San Camillo de Lellis shrine.
According to police, the man first tried to break into the offerings box before changing his mind and taking the chalices.
Camillus de Lellis (1550 -1614) was a priest who founded the Camillians, a religious order dedicated to the care of the sick.
He was beatified by Pope Benedict XIV in the year 1742, and canonized by him four years later in 1746.
De Lellis is the patron saint of the sick, hospitals, nurses and physicians. His assistance is also invoked against gambling.
The stolen chalice that was a relic was given to the Camillian order by St John Paul II when he was pope.
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