Aversa. Important works of art stolen from the churches of the Diocese of Aversa, Capua and Teano will be returned on -05 December 2020 at 11,30:XNUMX am at the Sacred Heart Seminary of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions in Trentola Ducenta (CE) by the Commander of the Unit for the Protection of the Cultural Heritage of Naples, Major Giampaolo Brasili, to the Regional Manager Campania CEI and Director of the Office for Ecclesiastical Cultural Heritage of Aversa (CE), Mons. The Bishop HE Mons. Angelo Spinillo will be present.
Through a complex investigation, the Carabinieri have identified twenty-nine people. Four thieves organized the 'hits', hence the name of the investigation "FourFour", the remaining suspects are receivers and buyers. The very active criminal gang is held responsible for 55 thefts, many of which ended happily and goods were returned, such as the Treasury of San Donato di Acerna (SA) and other goods throughout Italy, in Potenza, Matera, Occhiobello, to name just a few. Unscrupulous thieves who did not hesitate, after having discussed with the receivers, to dedicate themselves to other types of crimes, such as robbery and the kidnapping of an elderly person.
Of fundamental importance for the identification of the assets was the comparison of the images with those contained in the “Database of illegally stolen cultural assets”, managed by the TPC Command, which allowed the identification of the stolen works. The publication of the “Guidelines for the Protection of Ecclesiastical Cultural Assets”, which took place in 2014 as part of the collaboration between the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism, the Carabinieri and the Italian Episcopal Conference, addressed a crucial and still current issue in the panorama of actions to protect the Italian cultural heritage, which sees religious buildings often hit by the criminal actions of thieves of works of art and artistic artefacts. Reconciling the needs of protection of ecclesiastical assets with devotional ones is an objective continuously pursued by the Carabinieri for the Protection of Cultural Heritage together with the Italian Dioceses.
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