Sister Bernadette, superior of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, ended up under house arrest for a series of thefts committed in the churches of the diocese of Ariano Irpino-Lacedonia in the province of Avellino. The sale of these objects, including a relic of Saint Nicholas of Bari set in a medallion, had brought her around 80 thousand euros.

The investigations started from the complaint of the bishop of Ariano Irpino, Sergio Melillo, coordinated by the Benevento Prosecutor’s Office and supported by the precautionary order issued by the investigating judge of the Tivoli Court, revealed that for months, Sister Bernadette, 45 years old, of Indonesian origins, had it was the appropriation of precious votive offerings, systematically stolen from the churches.

Thanks to the accessibility that the position of superior gave her, the nun had free access to the church: she “pointed” to the most precious objects and, from time to time without any complicity, she took them away, hiding them in her apartment in the Episcopal Curia of Ariano and in his home in the province of Rome. The nun, who lived in the community of San Francesco Saverio in San Cesario, near Rome, even hid part of the loot in the dirty laundry basket.

The investigators of the Carabinieri Company of Ariano Irpino managed to recover only one gold ingot, the result of the melting of votive offerings, seized from a trader in the area. Instead, the nun transferred the money from the sale to a foreign account in her name. According to the investigators, he resold the stolen goods to traders in the votive sector: the gold was melted, and the money was transferred abroad.

A few days ago, a detention order was issued against the nun, and at the same time, she was transferred from Ariano Irpino, where Sister Bernadette also managed the bishop’s residence. In the end, he confessed everything.  

The case shocked the religious community. The news of the arrest of the mother superior of the episcopal curia of Ariano Irpino, belonging to the congregation of the Holy Spirit, accused of having taken possession not only of “ex voto” donated by the faithful for the graces received but also of objects, has caused a profound stir and disbelief. These objects are precious, belonging to many parishes.