Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Turin holy water theft blamed on Satanists

Via the Telegraph:
Satanists have struck at one of Turin's most famous churches, stealing a vial of holy water and a missal, or prayer book.
The items were taken from behind the altar at the Chiesa della Gran Madre di Dio, or Church of the Great Mother of God, at the end of last week.
A source at Turin police said a special team of carabinieri military police are investigating the break-in, and that the "most likely explanation" was that "the items were stolen to be used in a rite of black magic".
The holy water, from the river Piave, was in a crystal sphere which was around 14 inches wide. It was mounted on a marble base. The missal was around 20 years old and was lying on a prayer stand.
Father Sandro Menzio, the priest in charge of the church said the job had been done by professionals.
"They forced open exactly the right door and took their targets in the most rational way. They also avoided setting off the alarm. The things they stole were just symbolic, so it is difficult to find an explanation for their behaviour," he said.
Experts in the occult said the church, which was built in 1814 to celebrate King Victor Emanuel I's return to Italy, is one of the most important sites in the cosmic battle between white and black magic.
Sitting on the banks of the river Po, it forms one point of a "triangle of good" and is linked to other points in Lyons and Prague.
Twin statues stand at the base of the stairs leading up to the doors of the church, representing Faith and Religion. The statue of Faith holds a chalice in its hand and is looking at the location of the Holy Grail, which is buried in the city, according to legend.
"This church is full of important symbols to practitioners of the occult," said Giuditta Dembech, the author of Turin: Magic City.
"But only the theft of the prayer book makes any sense. You can organize a black mass with the prayer book, but I do not know what the thieves would do with the water."
She added: "For the objects to have any power for Satanists, they would need to come from a church, and this is one of the most important magical sites."
Turin is said to lie on the 45th parallel, an invisible line that runs around the globe and is halfway between the North Pole and the Equator. But a "line of evil" also intersects the city, and connects it to London and San Francisco.
The city allegedly has the highest concentration of Satanists in Italy.
The Piazza Statuto, a short way away from the church, is a shrine to devil-worshippers, who believe that the gateway to hell lies underneath. Thousands of criminals and deviants were executed in the piazza in Roman times, because it was believed to be a cursed place which often lay in shadow.
There is certainly a stronger awareness of Black Magic and Satanism in Italy than there is in most of the Western world. I'm not quite sure what to make of this story, however. It seems strange that Satanists would limit themselves to stealing an altar missal and a vial of holy water. It is certainly to the Italian Church's credit that it's very aware of Black Magic, however, there also seems to be a tendency amongst some Italian clergy to blame everything on Satanism and Freemasonry.

4 comments:

gengulphus said...

Curious that the Missal should be only 20 years old - what use would that be? Or does Satanism also have its "Vatican II" diehards?

Zadok the Roman said...

Be careful what you're saying! This may be the proof that some of my readers need that the Mass of Paul VI is the Mass of Satan! ;)

gengulphus said...

Oh dear, I had preferred to leave this implication unexpressed. But on reflection the culprits are surely bibliophiles wishing to secure, whilst available, an item which may rapidly become a collectors' piece.

Anonymous said...

As far as I can tell, the stolen items have not been recovered. Last year, I wrote the reporter at La Stampa who covered this story (the Telegraph reporter has since been re-assigned overseas, so there was no point writing him), and he said the items had not been recovered as of then. I just made a general search of news items, and there are no updates that I can find.

Would have been nice if the items (a crystal vial and prayer book) were found and returned.