Bad luck prompts thief to return image's crown

Tortured by his conscience - and a string of bad luck, a thief on Friday returned a gold crown of an image of the Santo Niño (Christ Child) in the eastern Philippines, five months after he stole it. A report on Bombo Radyo said the thief asked a friend to return the religious item to the bishop of Daet in Camarines Norte province. In turn, Bishop Gilbert Garcera turned over the item to Caceres Archbishop Leonardo Legazpi. Garcera said the theft occurred when the image of the Nuestra Señora de Peñafrancia (Our Lady of Peñafrancia) was brought to the St. John the Baptist church in Daet five months back. He said that while the crown was not made of real gold, the thief may have mistaken it for the real thing. But he said what eventually prompted the thief to return the crown was his conscience, and some incidents he attributed to bad luck. He did not elaborate. Because of this, the archdiocese said it is not keen on filing charges against the thief or disclosing his identity, saying the important thing is that the item has been returned. - GMANews.TV