Carol Viviana, the main suspect in the $2 million theft of the “Benedictin Rosari” (Benedictine Rosary) Catholic relic, has been arrested in Colombia. In a joint police operation led by Colombia and Brazil, the Colombian woman was arrested in Bogota. She was the subject of an Interpol notice.
‘Benedictin Rosari’ relic theft case suspect arrested in Colombia
The “Benedictine Rosary” is a highly valuable relic from the 19th-century. Made of gold, wood, and linen, it belonged to Pope Pius XII and is estimated to be worth over $2 million.
Kept in the Museum of Sacred Art at the Church of Pilar, in the municipality of Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais state, Brazil, the relic was stolen on October 11, 2023. Viviana reportedly acted in cooperation with local criminals and three other Colombians.
The piece was allegedly sold on the black market for $400,000 and remains missing.
In a statement, Brazilian authorities reported that a day before the theft, “a man and Carol Viviana, after entering several commercial establishments and scouting various valuable objects, entered the Museum of Sacred Art at the Church of Pilar around 3 p.m., where they gathered information on the characteristics of the golden Benedictine Rosary and the security and monitoring system of the collection.”
The following day, they allegedly returned and “opened security display cases without triggering alarms or leaving any traces of evidence.”
Surveillance cameras reportedly allowed authorities to identify them.
Capturan en Bogotá a Carol Viviana Pineda Rojas, vinculada al robo de una valiosa reliquia en Brasil. Se trata del Benedictin Rosari, un rosario de oro del siglo XIX, usado por el papa Pío XII y valuado en más de 8.000 millones de pesos. #NoticiaEnDesarrollo pic.twitter.com/Ga9YDSTEpJ
— Notivision PLUS (@NotivisionPLUS) March 31, 2025
Pope Pius XII, the Rosary and the Virgin Mary
The Rosary is a highly significant devotional object for Catholics. Derived from the Latin rosarium, meaning “Rose Garden,” it is centered on devotion to Jesus Christ and his mother, the Holy Virgin Mary, comprising five sequences of prayers focused on their lives.
Pope Pius XII (1939-1958) was known for his deep devotion to the Virgin Mary and his promotion of the Rosary as a prayer tool, encouraging Catholic families and individuals to integrate this “heavenly rather than human” object into their spiritual lives.
Notably, Pope Pius XII consecrated the human race to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in 1942 to help end World War II and defined the dogma of the Assumption, according to which the Virgin Mary did not die but, like her son Jesus, was taken up to heaven by God in body and soul.