Strange theft of documents and jewelry in the Tui cathedral: a complaint focuses on the archivist’s assistant fired in 2021 | Spain

The complaint to the Civil Guard by the Bishopric of Tui-Vigo Upon confirming the disappearance of jewelry and other valuable objects, as well as various documents from the Diocesan Historical Archive and the Chapter Archive of the Cathedral of Santa María – which have not yet been quantified – he recalled the bizarre case of the theft in 2011 of the Codex Calixtino, one of the cathedral treasures of Santiago that was recovered a year later. In a statement, the diocese wanted to put an end to media speculation and has minimized the effects of the possible plunder that is being investigated. He assures that “nothing is missing from the inventory of the cathedral and its museum” and that the thefts are limited to pieces kept by the archivist and that he had received through private donations so that the church could have them. The focus of the investigations is on his former assistant, an operator who provided services at the cathedral for more than two decades and who was fired in 2021.

While the how and when of the intriguing loot is clarified, security measures have been reinforced in the temple and new protocols are being studied in the most sensitive places. In its statement, the bishopric regrets what happened and confirms that the complaint was filed on December 3, but rules out that the theft of objects has affected the valuable inventory of the cathedral and its museum, without clarifying whether the stolen works include a silver notary of French origin and old documents from the 16th century on the history of Tui, uncatalogued, as some media have insistently collected.

The bishopric only refers to the disappearance of documents stolen from the diocesan archives that “were pending cataloguing, therefore, without being definitively recorded,” such as the contract for the arrangement of an altarpiece from 1780 and “some other files,” he points out. in his statement released this Monday. Regarding the documents that have been missing, the bishopric emphasizes that they are “less important” papers, although it does not refer to the stolen jewelry, such as coins and a sapphire probably set on a brooch that would have been donated through a donation. private. All this with an estimated valuation of around 30,000 euros, although other sources have multiplied this figure by 10. However, the Bishopric of Tui-Vigo has made it clear that, for the moment, it will not make statements or evaluations about the case., “out of respect for open investigations” and has expressed his confidence that the investigations “can be resolved promptly.”

The investigation of the Heritage Judicial Police of the Pontevedra Command It dates back to the early 2000s, until 2022. Without ruling out any hypothesis, researchers have found no evidence that robberies with force or violence took place in the archives of the temple where the investigations are taking place, so it is ruled out. the performance of professional thieves in art thefts. At least that is what emerges from the complaint filed just a week ago by the person responsible for the Tudense Diocesan Historical Archivewhose suspicions fall on the person who had been his most trusted person and his closest collaborator.

Located on a hill with exceptional views over the Miño River and the border city of Valença (Portugal), the cathedral of Santa María de Tui It is the gateway for the thousands of pilgrims who head to Santiago through the so-called Portuguese Way along the coast. The only cathedral in the Rías Baixas began to be built in 1120 with a clear defensive objective and with a unique architectural combination of Romanesque and Gothic. Its historical archive is the most important and extensive in Galicia after that of the Cathedral of Santiago.

A year after the disappearance of the Codex, the attempted robbery at the Diocesan Museum of Tui by unknown persons who tried to break the lock was the first warning to take stricter measures. They began by placing motion sensors on the access doors, both the portico and the primitive Romanesque one, with 24-hour surveillance.

An old suspect in the cathedral

The only suspect so far began working at the cathedral in 2004, and left his position at the Diocesan Historical Archive in 2021, although the reasons for his dismissal have not been revealed. Some connotations that have some parallels with the looting uncovered in the cathedral of Santiago by the temple’s electrician, who was also an old employee of the highest confidence of the clergy, including for the dean himself, until the investigation into the disappearance The Codex Calixtinus put figures on the looting estimated at more than 2 million euros, coming, among other income, from donations from pilgrims and parishioners.

The facts reported by the person in charge of the cathedral archive, the canon Avelino Bouzónare apparently not recent, but rather occurred over a long period of time. However, it is unknown what triggered the complaint or what object the filing cabinet was missing to go to the Civil Guard. In fact, in addition to the theft of the jewelry, the former worker is suspected of other alleged criminal conduct, such as plagiarizing texts by other authors in articles signed by him in a magazine in which he collaborated, or charging money for registration documents from descendants of emigrants. born in any of the 260 parishes that make up the Tui-Vigo Diocese to obtain dual nationality, as reported Faro de Vigo. A data certificate that in many cases is found in historical files that are only preserved in the Tudense cathedral, prior to the civil registries that began to function in 1870.

It has been three years since the suspect in the robbery at the Tui cathedral left this temple. From a very young age he began to perform the duties of an altar boy and ended up working for almost two decades in the temple’s Historical Archive, the only worker, along with the archivist, who had the keys to access the rooms where these unique objects were kept, some of them supposedly missing.

This cathedral has historical jewels and unique pieces such as ancient scrolls and codices of enormous value, such as the Pontifical Codex of the Cathedral of Tuidating from the end of the 13th century and which was displayed in Santiago next to the Calixtino Codex. Precisely the theft of the latter forced security to be reinforced in other cathedrals, including Tui, which installed mechanisms connected to a security center that the open investigation could determine if they have been effective. In fact, these measures will be reviewed with new protocols to preserve the security of the cathedral temple and the historical archive, as announced by the bishopric itself in the midst of the investigation into the theft in its diocesan archives.