Vatican Reopens Investigation into Caravaggio's Stolen Nativity

The Vatican is intervening in the decades-old case of Caravaggio's 'Nativity with Saints Lawrence and Francis of Assisi,' stolen from Palermo in 1969. On October 15, the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development will host a meeting at the Sala Vasari della Cancelleria to present new findings from the Parliamentary Anti-Mafia Commission. Participants include Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, former Anti-Mafia Commission president Rosy Bindi, art historian Claudio Strinati, philosopher Vittorio Alberti, and General Fabrizio Parrulli of the Carabinieri Cultural Heritage Protection Unit. The painting, created in 1600, was taken from the Oratory of San Lorenzo in Palermo, likely by Cosa Nostra. Over the years, multiple mafia informants have provided conflicting accounts: Giovanni Brusca (1996) offered to return it in exchange for eased prison conditions; Salvatore Cancemi described it as a mafia trophy; Gaspare Spatuzza (2009) claimed it was hidden in a stable and damaged by animals; Gaetano Grado (2018) alleged it was cut into four parts and smuggled to Switzerland by boss Gaetano Badalamenti. The meeting coincides with the 25th anniversary of the beatification of Father Pino Puglisi, the first mafia martyr of the Catholic Church. The initiative follows a June 13 event at the Museo Abatellis in Palermo, where lawyer Nino Caleca called for Vatican involvement, stating the theft is now a matter of legality and religious sentiment. Pope Francis has reportedly endorsed the effort.