Cloth with Pope John Paul II's blood stolen in Germany

BERLIN - Agence France-Presse

AFP photo

A cloth with a drop of Pope John Paul II's blood was stolen from Cologne Cathedral in western Germany at the weekend, police said."Its material value is small but the spiritual loss is much greater," the cathedral's provost, Gerd Bachner, was quoted in the police statement from June 5 as saying.Bachner urged the thieves to "come to their senses" and return the relic.A visitor to cathedral noticed early Sunday that the cloth was missing from its glass case, which was built to recall a visit by the pontiff to Cologne in November 1980.Police released a picture of the glass with a hole smashed by the thieves.Police assume the theft took place between the night of June 4 and the morning of June 5. Pope John Paul II led the Catholic church from 1978 until his death in 2005.