A priest due to be charged in connection with the theft of sacred items from a convent says he will “wait and pray” for the outcome of the investigation as police believe he did not act alone. 

Fr Deo Debono has already admitted to being involved in the theft of paintings and silverware from the top floor of the Augustinian Convent in Valletta, police sources say.

The 36-year-old priest told Times of Malta he was being advised not to comment on the extraordinary case.

 “I have orders from my superiors and from the police and my lawyers to stay quiet, wait and pray,” he said. 

However sources close to the investigation say more people need to be questioned as the police believe others are behind the “elaborate” theft.

The case has shocked the parish in Valletta, who were preparing to celebrate their annual feast this weekend.

External celebrations have now been cancelled and Fr Debono has been removed from the position of parish priest by Archbishop Charles Scicluna.

Valletta is decked out in banners and drapes to celebrate the Feast of Saint Augustine. Photo: Jonathan Borg

Fr Debono is expected to be charged in court next week with his alleged involvement in the theft of sacred works of art believed to be worth around €100,000.

More details have emerged about the thefts, including a picture showing the censer and incense boat that first sparked the police's interest in Fr Debono.

Police sources say the thefts took place over a period of several months. They suspect other people were involved as the paintings in the Augustinian Convent were replaced with similar replica paintings, including prints, so that the theft would go unnoticed. 

The police’s attention was drawn to the missing censer and incense boat and investigations immediately began. The two silver items were traced to an antique shop. 

Shown on the top shelf of a cabinet, the stolen stolen censer and incense burner.

Further investigations revealed the missing paintings, and these were found in a location which police sources are holding close to their chest.

Police investigations led them to Fr Debono, who was arrested and questioned at length by the police earlier this week, before being granted police bail until the investigations continue. 

Fr Debono was ordained a priest in 2010 by then Archbishop Paul Cremona, after completing his studies in sacred theology at the University of Malta. 

He was appointed as the new parish priest of Saint Augustine’s Parish Church in Valletta in June 2014. 

Parishioners told Times of Malta that since then, their feast had been improving.

“Fr Deo took the feast very seriously. He helped us with the preparations and was very hands-on. Thanks to him the feast grew every year and it got better each year,” one festa enthusiast said on condition of anonymity. 

Street furniture in Valletta for the feast of Saint Augustine. Photo: Jonathan Borg

Another said that now that this theft was uncovered, he had started to wonder where the money for new street furniture for the feast was coming from.

“We had new banners every year and we would decorate more and more streets. We have a new titular statue. The feats is growing but this comes at a great expense. I never questioned where the money was coming from. We organized several fund-raising activities but I am not sure how much these covered the extra expenses,” he said.

The parishioners described Fr Debono as a very generous person, who would do anything to help others, especially those in need.

He provided for those who could not make ends meet and when he could not meet the demands, he would turn to other parishioners for help.