Vatican held to ransom over stolen Michelangelo documents
On Sunday the Pope’s press secretary appeared to give weight to the Hollywood image, with the remarkable announcement that the Vatican had received a ransom demand for the return of two rare documents written by Renaissance master Michelangelo, which were stolen from its archives nearly 20 years ago.
Father Federico Lombardi said a cardinal in charge of St Peter’s Basilica had been contacted recently by a person who offered to get the documents back for what Father Lombardi called “a certain price”.
Italian newspaper Il Messaggero said the person, described as a former Vatican employee, had asked for €100,000.
Father Lombardi said the cardinal “naturally refused, because these are stolen documents”....