• ESPANOL: Rumores sugieren que la Iglesia Católica Romana está considerando devolver los objetos saqueados del Templo Judío en el año 70 d.C. a Israel

The massive Arch of Titus located in Rome has images carved on it of all the plunder that Emperor Titus took from the Jewish Temple in Rome after he obliterated and plundered it in 70 AD.

The arch was constructed in 81 AD, by Emperor Domitian, the younger brother of Titus, shortly after his older brother died.

The images show Jewish slaves carrying various items back to Rome including the Jewish Menorah.

After their arrival in Rome, the items stolen from the Jewish Temple seemingly disappeared. Many believed they were lost or melted down.

However, one rumor that has persisted through the centuries is that the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) has some items taken from the Jewish Temple stored away in its vast underground cellars.

However, despite the rumors, officials with the Catholic Church have been equally adamant that they do not have them. In 2013, Archbishop Giuseppe Lazzarotto who serves in Israel responded to a query by the Israeli government stating that Rome does not have any of the items from the Temple.

However, according to a report on Israel365 News, there are reports that the Roman Catholic Church is now considering returning these stolen items to Israel.

It is hard to tell if this rumor is legitimate or not. It may just be another conspiracy theory with legs.

According to Israel365, the source of this rumor is Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu. He is the father of Amichai Eliyahu, Israel’s current Minister of Tradition, the equivalent of the Minister of Culture.

In a recent speech that Rabbi Eliyahu gave in Jerusalem, he said that the Ministry of Tradition was recently contacted by a leading member of Italy’s ruling party stating that the RCC was willing to return Temple items that it had in its possession.

Rabbi Eliyahu recounted what was told to the Minister of Tradition:

“We have in Rome the implements of the Jewish Temple. The Golden Menorah and many other Temple vessels and tools that we took from Jerusalem 2000 years ago,” the unnamed Italian official said.

“With these vessels you brought light into the whole world. They are with us. By keeping them perhaps we’re preventing you from fulfilling your destiny. If so, we will return them to you. If you want them – take them. It won’t be easy, but if this is what will enable you to fulfill your Divine role, then please, they yours. They are laying in our cellars. We aren’t doing anything with them,” the official allegedly added.

Having been told this story, even Rabbi Eliyahu was a bit skeptical of its veracity, stating, “I said to myself – is this for real? Apparently so.”

The Temple Mount in Jerusalem, which has been the home of two Jewish temples, is currently controlled by the Jordanian Waqf. There are two Muslim buildings on the site, the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock.

In conjunction with the Israeli government, the Waqf currently forbids Jews from praying on the Temple Mount.

However, there have been suggestions that the recent invasion of Israel by Hamas was sparked in part because of continuing conflicts on the Temple Mount as Orthodox Jews are demanding more access to the site.

The Jewish claims to the site date back nearly 3,000 years to Solomon’s temple which was built around 950 BC. The Al-Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock were constructed about 1,300 years ago in the seventh and eighth centuries AD.

This past summer a group of Jews prayed outside the Al-Aqsa Mosque in violation of the law, and there have also been reports that Orthodox Jews want to build a third Jewish temple on the site.

If the Roman Catholic Church does have items taken from the Second Temple and decides to return them, this would undoubtedly fuel the desire of Orthodox Jews to build a third temple. Some may even consider it a sign from God, that a third temple should be built.

Many believe that the construction of a third Jewish Temple is a necessary fulfillment of End Times prophecy.

But whether God would allow it to be built is another matter:

One item not shown on the Arch of Titus was the Jewish Temple’s most important piece of furniture, the Ark of the Covenant which disappeared about 600 years earlier when Babylon sacked Jerusalem in 586 BC.

Similar to the Arch of Titus, the Ark of the Covenant is not included in the list recorded in the Book of Jeremiah of all the items Babylon looted from the temple.

This suggests the Ark of the Covenant may have been hidden before the Babylonians sacked Jerusalem. But who hid it and where?

READ: Leading Italian Parliamentarian: Rome Wants to Return Temple Vessels to Israel