The bell and the crucifix have returned to their places. They were found a few dozen meters from the church of the Holy Family, in the Mazzagatti district of Gioia Tauro, putting an end to two days of dismay and indignation that had affected the entire city.
A positive epilogue made possible by the rapid and incisive intervention of the State Police. The agents of the Gioia Tauro police station started tight controls and extensive searches right from the first hours following the theft, exerting constant pressure on the area which led, in less than 48 hours, to the recovery of the stolen goods.
The theft and investigations
The theft was carried out during the night between 7 and 8 January. The bell of the small church in the Cerchia neighborhood had been uprooted and thrown to the ground, leaving a clear groove on the asphalt. A violent action that has led to the hypothesis of the use of means of transport and a targeted organization, probably aimed at casting the sacred object, made of an alloy with the presence of bronze.
Under the coordination of the first manager Giorgio Di Munno, checks were intensified in the sensitive areas of the neighborhood and in the surrounding areas, including those adjacent to the Ciambra. A widespread activity that led to the discovery of the bell and the crucifix, the latter damaged during the theft, abandoned behind the church.
The community’s reaction
The recovery has taken on a value that goes beyond the news. It was welcomed as a concrete signal of the presence of the State in a complex territory like Gioia Tauro. Unanimous appreciation came from the bishop of the diocese of Oppido Mamertina-Palmi, Monsignor Giuseppe Alberti, from the priests, from the mayor Simona Scarcella and from numerous citizens.
The reaction of a resident was emblematic, bursting into tears upon hearing the news of the discovery: a gesture that embodies the profound meaning of the story, between rediscovered trust and legality reaffirmed through the concrete action of the institutions.