The Public Security Police (PSP) recovered an episcopal ring from the archbishop of Mariana, in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, who was the victim of theft at Lisbon airport by a passenger.
Speaking to the Lusa agency, a PSP source said today that the theft occurred on March 6th when Archbishop Airton José dos Santos was going through the security control at Lisbon airport and forgot the ring on the tray where he deposited his belongings. .
After the Catholic representative left that area, a group of passengers, who also had several rings, took possession of the episcopal ring. The citizens were asked whether the goods belonged to them and “they stated yes”, said the police.
After realizing that the ring was missing, the Brazilian archbishop reported the disappearance to the authorities, who managed, including through video surveillance images and the different airlines, to identify the perpetrator of the theft, a 49-year-old man, who was “in transit “, bound for Cape Verde.
When he landed in this country, the suspect was approached by police authorities, recognized that the ring did not belong to him and offered to return it, and the object was sent back to Lisbon.
The jewel is in the possession of the PSP, which has already informed Airton José dos Santos, awaiting instructions for the process of sending the religious symbol.
According to a police note, the episcopal ring, made of precious metal, represents loyalty and union with the Catholic Church, being “the first of the insignia to be blessed and given to a new bishop at the ceremony of his consecration”.
Airton José dos Santos, also mentioned, has been archbishop of the Archdiocese of Mariana – Minas Gerais since June 2018.
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