An unusual incident has happened to Albanian Cardinal Ernest Simoni, who lives in a Curia apartment in Florence's Piazza Duomo. Italian media report that a gang of thieves forced their way into his apartment, knowing they would find no one home, given that the cardinal had recently traveled to London for a series of meetings with local Catholic communities as well as a meeting with King Charles.
The thieves made off with around 30,000 euros in cash and valuables, according to an initial estimate. "We are shocked by what happened. We could have expected anything, except that the thieves would be able to cause such chaos in Piazza Duomo," the cardinal's relatives told Corriere Fiorentino. They were the ones who discovered the incident and immediately notified the police.
To get inside, the thieves knocked down a wall and opened the door, demonstrating that they knew they had time and were not concerned about the noise made by chisels and hammers. Most likely, they were keeping an eye on the cardinal's family, who left during the afternoon and returned home in the evening.
What makes the theft even more bizarre is the fact that, along with the valuables, the cardinal's residence permit in Italy, which was kept in a drawer, was also stolen. However, this theft seems to have left Simon unperturbed as it is said that he only saw the condition of the religious statues he kept at home.
Moreover, the 97-year-old Albanian priest, named a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2016, has faced much greater challenges throughout his life, having been considered an "enemy of the people" during Albania's communist dictatorship. Arrested on Christmas Eve 1963 while celebrating Mass, he was sentenced to death, later commuted to 25 years of forced labor in mines and then in the sewers.
True to his proverbial pastoral dynamism, he flew to the United Kingdom where he visited local Catholic communities and also met with King Charles on Tuesday morning. He celebrated Mass in various cathedrals from London to Birmingham before flying to Dublin, Ireland, where he unfortunately received the bad news of the theft. ©LAPSI.al
