Tabernacle forced open, Blessed Sacrament stolen from monastery in Spain

Jan 2, 2026 / 17:00 pm

The tabernacle of Holy Thorn Monastery church in Valladolid, Spain, was forced open and the Blessed Sacrament was stolen.

The Cistercian monastery, which was founded in 1147, preserves a relic of Christ’s crown of thorns.

The monastery’s parish priest, Father Francisco Casas, filed a complaint with the Civil Guard on Dec. 28, 2025, after informing the archbishop of Valladolid and president of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference, Luis Argüello, of what had happened earlier that day.

In March 2025, this same act of desecration was committed in Our Lady of the Meadow church in the town Arroyo de la Encomienda on the outskirts of Valladolid.

According to the Holy Thorn Monastery’s website, the perpetrators did not touch anything else, so “their target was the Lord.”

Act of reparation

In response to this “offense of exceptional gravity,” Argüello will perform an act of reparation at 6 p.m. local time on Jan. 3 at the monastery.

The act of reparation will be carried out “for the harm caused to the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist, the real presence of Jesus Christ in the bread and wine, transformed into his body and blood after the consecration,” the Archdiocese of Valladolid stated on its website.

After lamenting that this is the second desecration in an area church in just nine months, the archdiocese urged the faithful “to pray in reparation for this sacrilegious act, as well as to safeguard the celebration of the Eucharist and the reservation of the Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacle.”

The monastery is asking Catholics “not to remain indifferent” to such a grave offense and to join in the act of reparation — either at the monastery or individually — to spend this time with the outraged Lord and give public witness to their faith.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.