Police have arrested two thieves who stole the late Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski’s ring in February.

Mieczyslaw W., 62-year-old former taxi driver and Barbara R., 33-year-old unemployed, were detained near the western city of Poznan. The couple, who travelled around Poland and robbed churches, was identified by a witness.

The ring was part of the Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski exhibition, which aimed at celebrating the Polish prelate and archbishop of Gniezno who served between 1948 and 1981, when he passed away.

Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski, a former Primate of Poland was imprisoned by the communists in Stalinist Poland in 1953 during a crackdown against the Roman Catholic church.

The ring, which was made of gold and silver and incrusted with diamonds, was worth several thousand zloty. The item was kept in a locked glass display, but no security was employed to watch over it and other expensive exhibits. It was stolen four days after the opening of the exhibition.

Mieczyslaw W. and Barbara R. already have a criminal record. A week before the Cardinal ring’s theft they were detained for having stolen 62 euro from a church money-box but later released. (mg)