The lifeless body of a male infant, believed to be around a month old, was discovered on Thursday in a baby box designed for abandoned infants in southern Italy.
The tragic incident occurred at the church of San Giovanni Battista in Bari, located in the Puglia region.
The parish priest, Father Antonio Ruccia, revealed that an alert system connected to the box, meant to notify him immediately when a baby is left, failed to activate.
“I am in Rome, but my cell phone connected to the crib didn’t ring,” Ruccia explained to Italian media.
The discovery was made by a local funeral home director, who noticed the baby box door slightly open while passing by.
He quickly informed the priest, who then contacted the local authorities.
When police arrived, they found the infant’s body inside.
The baby box, equipped with a heating system, is supposed to activate the moment a baby is placed inside, sending a notification to the priest’s phone.
However, it remains unclear whether the system malfunctioned or if the baby was already deceased when placed in the box, according to Bari police.
An autopsy is expected to determine the cause and timing of the infant’s death.
Initial investigations suggest that the person who left the baby may not have fully closed the box door, preventing the alarm from being triggered.
This marks the first time in nearly a year that the baby box in Puglia has been used.
In December 2023, a baby girl named Maria Grazia was safely left there. Reflecting on these events, Father Ruccia had remarked, “There can be no judgment in these events. No one can imagine the pain behind realizing that you cannot take care of your little one.”
Baby boxes, reintroduced in Italy in 2006, allow parents unable to care for their children to leave them anonymously in heated cribs at churches or hospitals.
The concept traces back to the 13th century, when mothers would place babies in a “ruota,” a rotating wheel built into the walls of church-affiliated children’s homes, allowing anonymous transfers to church care.
While the use of these facilities declined after the closure of children’s homes in the 1950s, Italian law now permits women to give birth anonymously at hospitals and leave their babies without legal repercussions, offering an alternative to the baby boxes.
