Theft of the Heart of St Laurence O'Toole, Patron Saint of Dublin

The Heart of St Laurence O'Toole, Patron Saint of Dublin, born 1128, the first Irish born Archbishop of Dublin 1162.

Reading the Irish News recently I noted that the relic held in Christ Church Cathedral, (Anglican), Dublin had recently been the victim of a rather serious crime. Thieves have stolen the Heart of Saint Laurence O'Toole, even though we are lead to believe by Cathedral staff and clergy that the heart has no monetary worth whatsoever, indeed the Dean of the Cathedral has been quoted as saying, " It has no monetary value but we have loads of silver. It’s the last thing we thought would be stolen.” (The Very Rev Dermot Dunne, quoted from The Irish Times, 06/03/2012)

I think however that the Cathedral staff are not looking at this theft correctly, to assume that it was stolen for the purposes of making money, is a just one, yet I daresay it is not the whole motive. The Stealing of relics goes back to the Middle Ages, indeed clergy were once the instigators of such crimes, relics in those halcyon days were a source of  income, indeed it can be argued that they formed the basis of the European Economy, and of course Chantry Masses also backed up the economy of the two pillars, Mass and Relics.

To say that the heart is worthless in a monetary sense is a rather foolish statement, there are still, much like the Elector of Saxony Fredrick the Wise, hoarders, (I suppose they prefer the term collectors), of such things. There is indeed a vast market for such things. I don't think this is a simple act of cultural vandalism against the Church of Ireland, I believe that it is part of a serious crime spree in the whole Church Community, the Roman Catholic Church, (Or as it styles itself "The Church in Ireland), has also been the victim of nefarious relic hunters.