PRESS RELEASE

RETURN OF AN IMPORTANT INSCRIPTION STOLEN FROM THE AD DECIMUM CATACOMBS (GROTTAFERRATA) AND RECOVERED IN UTRECHT IN THE NETHERLANDS

On Sunday 13 October 2024, at 11:00, at the Ad Decimum Catacombs in Grottaferrata, Via Anagnina 4.

On Sunday 13 October 2024, at 11.00, in the Ad Decimum Catacombs in Grottaferrata, a ceremony will be held for the return of an important funerary epigraph in Greek, containing one of the most ancient mentions of the name of Christ, stolen during the 1980s from the Ad Decimum Catacombs in Grottaferrata (via Anagnina 4), and recovered in November 2023 by the Carabinieri Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage in close collaboration with the police forces of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Indeed, the epigraphical artifact, removed from the catacombs, was conserved in Saint Catherine’s National Museum of Utrecht, which actively collaborated in the restitution of the inscription, donated to the museum by a private collector.

The ceremony, which will crown the excellent teamwork between the Vatican, Italian and Dutch institutions, will be attended by Msgr. Pasquale Iacobone, president of the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archaeology, Her Excellency Annemieke Riugrok, ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the Holy See, Colonel Paolo Befera, Commander of the Carabinieri Operative Department for the Protection of Cultural Heritage, Sergeant Peter Veltman, National Police of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and Professor Mirko Di Bernardo, mayor of Grottaferrata.

The event will include brief interventions by the authorities present and the unveiling of the recovered inscription, restored for the occasion and repositioned in the catacomb, and will conclude with a visit to the underground complex.

For information:

Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archaeology protocollo@arcsacra.va 06/4465610-4467601