Italian police are searching for three suspects accused of robbing a convent in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, the pope’s summer vacation spot, on Christmas Day and threatening its mother superior.
Three men entered the Pius XII Institute through a window using a crowbar just after midnight on Christmas Eve and began ransacking the mother superior’s office, the Telegraph reported.
The mother superior walked in on the men, who then grabbed her and walked her to her bedroom where she was forced to hand over 5,000 euros, about $6,100, from the convent’s cash box, the Telegraph reported.
The men reportedly grabbed her cellphone and locked her in her bedroom before escaping the convent’s grounds and loading into a getaway car.
Italian police are reviewing surveillance footage and dusting the convent for fingerprints, the Italian newspaper Il Messaggero reported.
The paper said the nuns were shocked over the robbery and that residents and traders in the area were outraged that a religious institution was hit on Christmas. The papal palace in the city of Castel Gandolfo has been used by the pope for centuries as a summer getaway.
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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