Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
JesuiticalMarch 28, 2025
This skull of St. Thomas Aquinas made several stops for public veneration Nov. 29-Dec. 18, 2024, in Washington, D.C., as well as North Carolina, Rhode Island, Ohio, Kentucky, New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland. (OSV News photo/courtesy Thomistic Institute)

Joining Zac and Ashley on this episode of “Jesuitical” recorded in Douglaston, N.Y., is Msgr. Robert Sarno, a priest of the Diocese of Brooklyn and a former official of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints. With 38 years of experience in overseeing the process of canonization and beatification of saints, Monsignor Sarno offers a deep dive into the world of Catholic relics, including their history, hierarchy and controversy. 

Zac, Ashley and Monsignor Sarno discuss:

  • How the devotion to relics began in the early Catholic Church and evolved over time
  • The distinction between first-class, second-class and third-class relics 
  • Contemporary issues with the misuse and trafficking of relics 

Links for further reading: 

You can follow us on X and on Instagram @jesuiticalshow.  

You can find us on Facebook at facebook.com/groups/jesuitical. 

Please consider supporting Jesuitical by becoming a digital subscriber to America Media at americamagazine.org/subscribe

More: Saints / Vatican

The latest from america

Catholics across Texas and the world, including Pope Leo XIV, are offering their prayers and support after deadly flooding struck Texas on July 4.
Each year at this time, near the Fourth of July, we contemplate freedom. But maybe we are also being called to do an extended examination of our own fears.
George Drance, S.J.July 07, 2025
Is it possible to embrace the idea of a special, evenly divinely ordained mission for America without violating Christian ethical principles?
Thomas J. MassaroJuly 07, 2025
Pope Leo XIV arrived in the papal summer retreat of Castel Gandolfo on Sunday to start a six-week vacation, giving the hilltop town back its most illustrious resident after Pope Francis stayed away during his 12-year pontificate.