From the Gallup Independent:
Officials with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Gallup are asking for the public’s help in the return of a historical ceremonial item that was stolen in Gallup earlier this week.
A gold-plated crosier — a pastoral staff that symbolizes the governing office of a bishop — was apparently stolen from an unlocked pickup owned by one of Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted’s assistants sometime between Sunday and Wednesday evening, according to Lee Lamb, the communications director for the diocese.
On Thursday, Lamb released information about the theft with the expressed hope that publicity would result in the crosier’s return or recovery. The crosier is about 6 feet in length and is decorated with gold-plating and jewels, which Lamb believes are glass stones. The metal crosier, which resembles a shepherd’s staff with an ornate spiral crook, is very heavy and can be dismantled into several smaller sections for storage in a black carrying case. The crosier was taken in its case.
Lamb said he didn’t know the actual value of the crosier but estimated it would cost the diocese between $3,000 and $5,000 to replace it. However, its greater value may be rooted in it its history.
“Bishop Olmsted’s crosier dates back to 1940 when Pope Pius XII named Fr. Bernard T. Espelage, OFM, the Diocese of Gallup’s first bishop,” Lamb said in an e-mail....
2 comments:
What is Bishop Olmsted doing with the Gallup crosier? I don't think he is sn Archbishop. He is the Bishop og Phoenix- which is under Gallup....
Although he is the Bishop of Phoenix, Bishop Olmstead is also the Apostolic Administrator of Gallup and has been since January 3, 2008 when Bishop Pelotte went on sick leave.
Also, the Diocese of Phoenix is not suffragan to Gallup. Gallup is also not at Archdiocese. Both the Diocese of Gallup and the Diocese of Phoenix are suffragan sees of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe.
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