World

Cloth with Pope John Paul II's blood stolen from German cathedral

Pope John Paul II during his visit to Ireland in the summer of 1979
Pope John Paul II during his visit to Ireland in the summer of 1979 Pope John Paul II during his visit to Ireland in the summer of 1979

A CLOTH with a drop of blood from the late Pope John Paul II has been stolen from Cologne cathedral.

German police said a visitor noticed on Sunday that the religious relic had disappeared and alerted a church usher.

In a statement, police quoted the cathedral's provost, Gerd Bachner, lamenting the spiritual loss of the relic.

Police said the cloth was in a glass container that had been removed from the base of a sculpture commemorating the pope's visit to Cologne in 1980.

Bachner urged the thief to return the relic.

Pope John Paul II died in 2005.