To Catholics, relics are mementos of loved ones who have passed on and whom we believe are in heaven interceding on our behalf with prayer and petitions. To steal the relic of a saint is like pissing on your beloved grandmother's grave. It's just horribly disrespectful. Don't suppose we Catholics will riot and murder, though.
But isn't it weird, Felicity? The thief has been active before, I gather, and is clearly not after money. Can he be a satanist, I wonder.
That occurred to me. It's possible, but rather than go to the extreme, I tend to think it's someone with great disrespect for the Church and her beliefs who wants to make a scene and offer a public event so people can say rotten things about Catholics and what we believe and how we worship. If one is a Satanist, it's easy to get consecrated hosts if one wants to assault Jesus--He's handed out at multiple masses every day and you don't have to show ID to prove you're a Catholic to receive. Relics of saints are object that inspire devotion to God, but they have no power themselves, spiritual or otherwise. The Eucharist, on the other hand, is Jesus (as Catholics--and Satanists of that sort believe).
