The incident occurred last Thursday moments after the “professional robber” confessed to his many years of atrocities against his numerous victims before the parish priest of the church. Investigation showed that the ciborium, used to preserve the Holy Eucharist, is worth several millions of naira.Confusion enveloped the Blessed Chapel of Saint Joseph’s Catholic Church in Benin, Edo State, as robbers stole the golden ciborium.
It was gathered that the stealing of the sacred item of worship containing the Holy Eucharist or its desecration is considered sacrilegious by the faithful and a special prayer session must be organised to seek divine intervention and mercy for those behind the incident.
Already, the entire Catholic parishioners in the diocese are locked in a novena (a nine-day prayer session) because of the desecration of the Holy Eucharist.
The robbery suspect, whose name could not be ascertained at press time, had stormed the church on First East Circular Road, Benin, where he sought to see the parish priest, Rev Father Benedict Ebogu, for confession.
The suspect also sought possible reintegration with members of his family and the society. He was said to have confessed to the priest that he was a professional robber for several years.
The unsuspecting reverend father, who disclosed this to the congregation shortly after Sunday service, explained that the suspect had, after his confession, asked for God’s mercy and forgiveness since his family members had refused to accept him back.
According to Ebogu, the suspect asked to be allowed to pray to be reintegrated into the lager society. The reverend father added that he asked the self-confessed robber to go to the Blessed chapel for prayer. But a few minutes later, the suspect emptied the content of the golden ciborium and fled with it.
http://newtelegraphonline.com/robber-steals-ciborium-after-confessing-his-sins/
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