Cyprus Orthodox Archbishop Chrysostomos II above , said a Cypriot monk who tried to smuggle a nun' skeleton out of Athens was a "charlatan" and called his actions was sacriligious.
The Nun's skull above was found wrapped in a cloth and stashed in the monk's bags below along with pieces of her skeleton.
A monk and two accomplices were busted Sunday trying to board a plane in Athens with the skull and bones of a dead nun in their luggage.
When question about why he had a skull and skeletal remains in his suitcase , the 42 -year-old monk who is from Cyprus , told police that he was transferring the remains from Greece to a monastery in Cyprus because the nun was a saint.
The Cypriot Orthodox church , though , showed little faith in the monk's story , saying the attempted smuggling was sacrilegious.
'It appears to be the work of charlatans with a finanical interest , that is what I suspect," Cyprus ' Archbishop Chysostomos II told Reuters.
The trio , which included a man in his 50s and a woman in her 60s were charged with theft and desecrating human remains .
The monk was also suspended from his monastery for three months , according to the Cyprus Mail.
The graverobbers allegedly stole the remains of the nun , Eleni Vathiadou , after a memorial service held by her family at a cemetery to mark the four-year anniversary of her death, the Cyprus Mail reported.
Valhiadou had once served as a nun in Cyprus but had been living in Greece when she died.
She was never officially declared a saint by the church.
However , it is common for sects within the Orthodox tradition to worship their own saints and revere their remains which are often placed on display along with donation boxes , Reuters reported .
