MOSCOW, July 3 (RIA Novosti) – A Russian Orthodox priest-in-waiting admitted to stealing some $1,500 worth of relics because he wanted to put them in his own future church, police said Wednesday.
The man, who was planning on opening his own house of worship after finishing seminary, conceded that he was drunk when he pilfered the items, valued at 46,000 rubles, from a local cathedral he was attending, police in the city of Samara said in statement.
On Saturday, a deacon at the cathedral noticed that relics were missing and called the police, the statement said, adding that the stolen items were found in the would-be priest’s home.
The perpetrator, who was “gradually appropriating religious items,” has since been detained, police said, adding that the items had been returned to the church.
