FBI Boston recovers 17th-century reliquary urn stolen from Italian church

A 17th-century reliquary urn, carved and gilded in wood and believed to be one of 17 ecclesiastical artifacts stolen from the Church of San Michele Arcangelo di Cangiano in Italy between Aug. 1, 2012, and Aug. 31, 2022, has been recovered by the FBI’s Boston Division.

Antique urns from the 17th century are generally priced from approximately $500 to over $35,000, but when they are part of a church’s cultural heritage, they can be considered priceless. Reliquary items in Italian churches are commonly registered in the inventory of Historical Artistic Heritage managed by the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI) and local dioceses to prevent theft.

The FBI’s Boston Division said it recovered the urn on Feb. 11 from an antiques dealer in the Northeast who purchased it from another antiques dealer in Italy. The item was relinquished voluntarily.

“It’s incredibly exciting when the FBI can recover a piece of history that carries such deep emotional and cultural significance. After all, this reliquary urn is a tangible link to intense religious devotion and a connection to the generations who lived and prayed with it,” Ted E. Docks, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Boston Division, said in a statement. 

“It represents the intersection of faith, history and art — elements that are invaluable to the people of Italy and to humanity as a whole. This case highlights the power of international cooperation and our collective commitment to safeguard the world’s cultural treasures, no matter where they may be.”

The investigation into the stolen urn began in fall 2025 through cooperation between the FBI’s Art Crime Team, the FBI’s law enforcement attaché in Rome, and counterparts from the Italian Carabinieri, the FBI’s Boston Division said.

The urn will be repatriated at a later date during a ceremony in Rome. Since the FBI’s Art Crime Team’s inception, the FBI has recovered 20,000 items of stolen art valued at more than $1 billion.