The Roman “Bambinello” … Baby Jesus stolen

My friend Greg Burke, Rome correspondent for Fox News, has a great little video piece on the famous Bambinello, the small olive wood statue of baby Jesus so venerated in Rome. 

It was stolen in 1994 from the church Ara Coeli on one of the peaks of the Capitoline Hill in the heart of Rome.

Please go over a spike Greg’s stats!  Leave comments!

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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5 Comments

  1. Derik says:

    Very adequate for the season. Thanks for sharing.
    Merry Christmas, dear Fr. Z.

  2. Tina in Ashburn says:

    Sad. And a miraculous statue at that? Aaargh.

    Last year I purchased a large-sized very pricey, beautifully-made creche set for our front lawn. I was estatic to find such a thing and be able to set it up in our yard. My husband set up lights. The neighbors loved it. The beautiful set was a comfort to me and to some neighbors.

    Then the day after Epiphany, the baby was gone. I cried with shock as I went out to retrieve the morning paper. The very beautiful set with angel, shepherd, three wise men and the Holy Family is now useless and sits packed away in the basement.

    My neighbors have been asking me all year “Ever get the Infant back?’. No such luck.

    Sigh. A painful sign of the times that such a precious symbol be taken. Such a lack of respect! But this is happening more and more places, and more frequently.

  3. I heard on the news recently that the Bambini, since they are the piece most often stolen from Nativity scenes, are now being fitted (internally) with GPS transmitters so they can be found when stolen and that they have proven to be successful.

    Tina in Ashburn… can you get a replacement for the Infant from the company that produced the set or perhaps the place you bought it from? Often, knowing of the issue, they are willing to provide just the Infant in such circumstances. It’s worth a try and you might even be able to get it shipped overnight to have it in time. Just a thought.

  4. Tina in Ashburn says:

    Fr Bailey, thanks for the thought. I don’t have any info on the company that made it – too big for a box! Maybe I’ll try the store and see if there’s anyway to get this. At this rate, I wonder if all creche-making companies aren’t making extra infants.

    Yeah, I was very interested by that same article about tracking devices. My husband is considering a high voltage line! ha ha ha.

  5. Tina, you might try looking on the bottom or near the base of one of the other statues for the name of the company that made it. Sometimes they imprint or stamp their name in it so it may be hard to see, but you can feel it. If you can’t read it, put a piece of paper over it and scribble gently with a pencil or crayon which will create a negative image of the name which you will be able to read. I’m sorry I didn’t think of it before.

    Best of luck! And don’t forget to ask St. Anthony for help.

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