Robbery of the Child Jesus and the mantle of the Virgin of Flores, patron saint of Álora, Spain. The armored glass that protects the image had been forced to access the room. (Images from the diocese show before and after the robbery)
The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Flores, patron saint of Álora and one of the most popular Marian devotions in the Diocese, has been the object of an act of vandalism, the extent of which is currently being assessed and which has already been reported to the civil authorities.
The name of the Shrine was part of NASA's Mars 2020 expedition, which aims to shed light on the astrobiological environment of the Martian surface. A total of 150,000 identification plates traveled in the interior of the Rover, the result of an open selection process that the North American space agency launched to the world and to which more than a million people responded. . The sergeant stationed in Barcelona, wheo works in a control tower, and said he carries Our Lady of Álora and in his heart. "I have always been a brother of the brotherhood although I can go to town very little, that's why I wanted to have a detail with them and this occurred to me," he explains. He did it thanks to a military colleague who received the news from the NASA logistics center in Zaragoza. (Source: Diario Sur - https://www.diariosur.es/interior/patrona-alora-viajara-20200203212432-nt.html)
It was at 8 in the morning on Tuesday, September 19, when the person in charge of opening the church realized that the image of the Virgin was in a different position than usual, without a crown and without a cloak. Likewise, the tabernacle had been moved from its place, placed on top of the altar, and opened with the key that was kept inside a drawer in the sacristy. There were shapes scattered around it. Immediately the local priest, Felipe M. Gallego, was contacted and came to verify the extent of the damage. An in-depth evaluation was undertaken that has revealed various important property losses.
The disappearance of the baby Jesus that the Virgin holds in her hand, the cloak that the statue wore in her recent pilgrimage and that carried various jewels deposited by the faithful, the ciborium and the money that destined to support devotion and those in need. In a first analysis, the statue of the Virgin has not suffered any damage.
According to the parish priest, "the perpetrators of the robbery have entered by cleanly forcing the grille of one of the sacristy windows, the access doors from the sacristy to the vestibule and from the vestibule to the church and, later, the armored glass that protected the Virgin.
Source: https://www.diocesismalaga.es/pagina-de-inicio/2014058110/roban-el-nino-jesus-y-el-manto-de-la-virgen-de-flores-patrona-de-alora/
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