Missing in Kentucky

The people of Bardstown (pop. 4,135), Ky. were shocked and angry at the meanness of man. On a dark night last week, thieves broke into 133-year-old St. Joseph's Cathedral, oldest Roman Catholic cathedral west of the Alleghenies, and made off with some of the art treasures inside. Among the nine paintings stolen: The Flaying of St. Bartholomew, attributed to Rubens, The Crowning of the Blessed Virgin, attributed to Murillo, and The Descent of the Holy Ghost, attributed to one of the Van Eyck brothers.

All Bardstown knew their legendary history: in 1798, while living in Havana, Father Benedict Joseph Flaget, future Bishop of Bardstown, befriended France's exiled Prince Louis Philippe. Years later, when Louis Philippe became King of France, he remembered the kindness, sent the paintings to the bishop for Bardstown's new cathedral.

Bardstown could place no exact value on the stolen paintings, could not even prove that they were the authentic masterpieces that local tradition holds them to be. But they had been a treasured part of St. Joseph's, and last week the parishioners prayed for their return. When there was no word, the Rt. Rev. Msgr. James H. Willett, St. Joseph's pastor, sent an open message to the thieves: "We are praying that you will realize that you have stolen from the house of God, and if you will only return the paintings, we will pray that you will be forgiven."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.