A new place of worship has been the victim of an act of vandalism. The statue of the Black Madonna, located in the Chapel of Graces within the territorial abbey of Einsiedeln, in Switzerland, was the target of a malicious individual last weekend, reports the edition of 20 Minutes in Switzerland Monday November 18. While many pilgrims were in full prayer, the man tore off the statue’s clothes and did not hesitate to steal its crown and scepter, as shown in a video filmed by one of the visitors and broadcast on the social networks. In this sequence of around thirty seconds, it is possible to see the suspect putting the crown of the Black Madonna on his head and holding it with one hand, while he yanks it off. white dress of the statue in the other hand.
An Afghan “mentally disturbed”
Several people quickly intervened, including a monk. The police were alerted and were able to arrest the troublemaker. According to information from CH Media, the suspect is a 17-year-old Afghan asylum seeker. THE Messengers from ancient Switzerland specifies that this teenager would be “mentally disturbed”.
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The Einsiedeln Monastery stated on its website that “the much-revered miraculous image dating from the 15th century suffered slight damage.” “We deeply regret this incident and think of the many people who were hurt in their religious feelings there”it is also written. The monastic site also said it was relieved that “no one was injured”. An investigation was opened to determine the motivations of this individual. The Black Madonna has the particularity of having around forty different outfits, which are regularly changed.
