Reopened the church where the body of Elisa Claps was found. Brother: "They acted like thieves"

The church of the Holy Trinity in Potenza has been reopened in the attic of which, on 17 March 2010, the body of Elisa Claps was found, the 16-year-old girl from Potenza who disappeared and was killed on 12 September 1993.

This is confirmed by the archiepiscopal curia of Potenza, with the diocese announcing that «initially, for a suitable time», the church of the Santissima Trinità - which dates back perhaps to the ninth century, even if we know of it in a document from 1178 - «will remain open every day from 8.30 to 12 and from 17 to 20». Also taking into account the address recently given by Pope Francis, "in harmony" with the archbishop of the capital of Basilicata, the church, which has been closed since 2010, will be "a place of silent prayer, adoration, the search for inner comfort and spiritual, and for the promotion of a serene reflection on the sacredness of life".

The decision was taken precisely to start a "path of reconciliation and healing for the community of Potenza, marked by an indelible wound", as indicated in a letter that the Pope sent "directly" to the mother of Elisa Claps and to the archbishop of Potenza, Monsignor Salvatore Ligorio.

The project to reopen the church for worship, which overlooks via Pretoria, the main street of the city, had been underway for some time, a decision that had caused quite a few controversies on the part of the Claps family.

"They acted stealthily, like thieves: I'm not surprised because they have been thieves of the truth for thirty years", commented today Gildo Claps, brother of Elisa: " I hope now that the community of Potenza will respond with the courage not to enter into that church ."

Danilo Restivo was definitively sentenced to thirty years for the Claps crime. The investigation bis by the Salerno public prosecutor's office into the methods of finding the body and possible complicity from which Restivo would have benefited is still open, also found guilty of the killing, in 2002 in England, of a neighbour, Heather Barnett.

(Unioneonline/D)