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:
- Why every Catholic church altar has a relic inside it
- How are saints made in the Catholic Church? Inside the long, complicated and expensive process
- St. Thomas Aquinas’ skull went on tour. Here’s what the medieval saint would have said about its veneration
- I’ve always loved relics. After my cancer diagnosis, they mean even more to me.
- I wear a third-degree relic every day. It reminds me that all things are possible through God.
- What to make of holy relics
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