SPAIN:A group of nuns has been accused of theft following the disappearance from a Spanish church of three statues dating back to the 16th century
The three carved wooden statues were taken from a church in the northwestern Spanish town of Grajal de Campos several months ago.
They included a 16th century carving of Jesus Christ, a 17th century Virgin Mary and a later piece depicting St Joseph.
The three had stood together in the town's Antigua church for more than two centuries and had been paraded around the town every Easter, followed by devout villagers. But this Easter was the first in almost 500 years in which the townsfolk were unable to parade their figure of Jesus through the streets.
The Grajal de Campos brotherhood that normally carries the statue had to replace it with photographs after a local convent closed down and the remaining nuns decided to take the statues with them to their new home in Toledo.
The wooden figures now reside in the new Toledo convent the Carmelite nuns have been sent to.
The nuns claimed that, as they had been responsible for dusting and shining the statues, they belonged to them.
But the local mayor has unearthed documents proving that the statues were there well before a Carmelite convent was set up in the town in 1881.
"We have documents that show they were there in at least 1728," said Francisco Espinosa.
The townsfolk have taken their protests to Toledo, hiring a coach to take them to the new convent to demonstrate outside.
A judge has called the two parties to appear before him next week to decide who the statues belong to. - (Guardian service)