From now on it will be more difficult to steal with impunity from churches. Thanks to an agreement between the National Office for ecclesiastical cultural properties of the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI) and the Command of the Carabinieri for the safeguard of the artistic heritage, more than 150,000 catalogue entries of the databank of the National Office will be placed at the disposal of the Carabinieri to help them crack down on crime against churches. “Whenever the Command recovers an ecclesiastical object such as a chalice, a monstrance or liturgical vestments explains Bishop Giancarlo Santi, director of the CEI’s office for ecclesiastical cultural properties it compares it with the photo present in the data bank and can thus trace the church from which the object was robbed. The return of the object will thus be immediate”. To access “Beweb”, the CEI’s National Office for ecclesiastical cultural properties, just clic on the official website of the Italian Catholic Church (www.chiesacattolica.it) and use the special link between the connected sites. By 2005 the CEI Office reports the entire Italian ecclesiastical heritage will be catalogued and documented in the data bank, which is updated in real time thanks to the information continuously sent in by the dioceses.
