Priceless 12th-century Codex Calixtinus manuscript presumed stolen from the Cathedral at Santiago de Compostela
There’s a plethora of sad news out there, as there always is, and like many I have become somewhat hardened. But for some reason the news that the Codex Calixtinus is missing – presumed stolen – from the Cathedral at Santiago de Compostela in Spain, has particularly saddened me.
I often read of thefts from churches and get the feeling that nothing is sacred to some. I’m not pretending this is a new phenomenon, churches are soft targets. And of course it’s not solely about the thieves themselves, but the fact that there is obviously a black market for such objects, that fuel these thefts.
I do wonder how the thieves and buyers can live with themselves.
A priceless 12th-century Catholic manuscript is missing from the cathedral at Santiago de Compostela in Spain and is presumed to be stolen.
The Codex Calixtinus is a medieval guidebook written for those on pilgrimage to the historic Galician town where the apostle St. James is traditionally believed to be buried.
Fr. Jose Maria Diaz Fernandez, the dean and archivist of the cathedral, told a July 7 press conference that “The Codex is so much part of Santiago that around the world people do not cite one without mentioning the other.”
Fr. Fernandez says he was first alerted to the loss on Tuesday evening. He called the police to the scene on Wednesday.
“We do not know if it’s been stolen by a collector or a band of professionals. What we can do is offer our full cooperation to the police.”
“It is the first time that such a thing has happened in this archive. Pray to the Apostle (St. James) to help us to recover the book as soon as possible.”
Tags: Church Life
July 8th, 2011 at 11:07 am
That is sad. I wonder how they live with themselves too. It doesn’t make any sense.
July 8th, 2011 at 1:23 pm
Perhaps there is just too much of the Protestant in me, but to me it is just a book and the concept of ‘[praying] to the Apostle (St. James) to help us to recover the book as soon as possible’ is an anathema to me! Recalling Matt 6: 19-21 (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+6%3A19-21&version=NIV) I find it difficult to get upset when religious ‘treasures’ are stolen. A great deal of my leisure time is spent traipsing around museums and churches and I have a love and an academic interest in church history and artefacts, but I don’t see them as a special species of object that when they suffer injury, loss or theft, the culprit is deserving of special opprobrium. The very fact that much of the wealth of churches – and especially the RC Church – that paid for these ‘treasures’ involved theft and/or the exploitation of many nullifies any special reverence for church property in my view.
In 2007 my partner and I did a tour of the Highlands of Scotland and happened to visit Dunrobin Castle, the ancestral home of the Dukes of Sutherland. As is typical with country houses there was much of the history of the house and family laid out for all to see. But there was not one word about the Highland Clearances that paid for the house – causing misery for hundreds of thousands of people so the Duke could ponce around in his new mock French chateaux! I know this is a secular example, but I have spent several days traipsing around the Vatican Museum (a fantastic place to visit) and noticed a similar, deafening silence when it comes to some of the origins of the treasures displayed.
Two wrongs, don’t make a right – and no one can condone the theft of art treasures nor the loss to the world of a publically accessible piece of history. But the fact it belongs to a church doesn’t make this crime any worse or the criminals more heinous. The Church herself was happy to ‘acquire’ objects and wealth from dubious sources – that caused a good deal more pain and misery for the victims than the church will suffer from the loss of this book – so I can’t see the fact this crime is against a church make that crime any worse. Theft is theft.
P.
July 8th, 2011 at 11:27 pm
Spot on, peter! All your points hit the nail on the head. Nowhere in Scripture are we commanded to pray to saints; and after the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ nowhere are we enjoined to give special place to religious artefacts; and nowhere are we permitted to gather stuff at the cost of others if we can avoid it. All of this smacks of idolatry. It is sad to lose a thing of beauty and historical significance but we must sit loose to material possessions, even those we value highly.
July 12th, 2011 at 12:00 pm
Hi Grainne
I hope you don’t mind but I wish to just point out that within Sacred Scripture we commended to ask others to pray for us. We also know that the continuing theme through both Testaments, is that the prayers of the righteous are heard and answered, and as St James explains in his epistle that the prayers of the righteous availeth much. Who are more righteous, that those that have run the good race, and have been purified by our God, the all consuming fire, who is thrice Holy. It is the Saints, those souls that are in heaven and behold the beautiful vision of God’s face. I know that some may say but ‘how can they hear us?’ St Paul reminds us that we are surrounded the great cloud of witnesses. Also remembering that the Body of Christ is not separated in anyway. And heaven is not a room tucked in the corner of the universe. Heaven borders earth and Christ marriages the two together. So the saints above and the saints below, are joined as one in Him. Which is but one of the great mysteries of our faith.
I do feel that there is a great misunderstanding within protestantism, of what ‘praying to the saints’ actually means. To pray, is to request. So we are in fact, asking of the Saints is to pray for us, and with us, to our Father.
With regard to religious artifacts, the sense of the divine is not limited in anyway, God can communicate to us through all of our senses. I think Bach’s music (and Palestrina) has to be the greatest argument for God. The beauty of sacred artefacts draws one in to reflect and meditate upon God. Just as much as the smell of bluebells in a forest, or the simplicity of the evening song of a thrush, or the loving kiss of a child to it’s mother.
Hope this helps explain a little.
Phoebs