Translated automatically by AI from the Italian original.
TERMINI IMERESE (PA) – A deep wound that shocks the entire civic and ecclesiastical community of the province of Palermo. During the night, unknown individuals broke into the parish of Maria Santissima del Carmelo in Termini Imerese and committed a serious act of sacrilege by desecrating the Tabernacle.
The thieves forced open the Eucharistic ciborium and stole the ciboria containing the consecrated hosts along with a sacred chalice, then covered their tracks. Investigations are under way by the police to trace those responsible for the break-in.
The grief and the words of Archbishop Lorefice
Archbishop of Palermo Monsignor Corrado Lorefice issued a heartfelt statement on the incident, expressing full solidarity and spiritual closeness with the parish priest, Don Giuseppe Zucchetto, and all the parishioners.
“We firmly condemn the act of stealing from a parish, which represents the house among houses for our people,” Monsignor Lorefice said. “Let us repair the outrage done to the Eucharist through the communion of our community prayer. Let us pray for the profound conversion of those who committed this act, so that they do not become completely inhuman, ask God for forgiveness and repent sincerely in thought and deed.”
Support from the local clergy and an hour of reparation
All the parish priests of the various religious communities in Termini Imerese have also united in support of the clergy and faithful of the Carmelo church, condemning an episode that strikes at the heart of religious values and the sensitivity of believers.
The city’s priests have issued a joint call to all citizens to attend an extraordinary moment of prayer of reparation to reaffirm the value of sacredness and entrust to divine mercy the conversion of those responsible for the theft.
