Posted on 09/25/2007 8:27:11 AM PDT by Alex Murphy
Fragments of a cassock worn by Pope John Paul II are being offered for sale to the faithful, causing concern in the Vatican over the resurgence in the veneration of relics.
Devotees of John Paul can apply via e-mail, fax or post for fragments of a white cassock to augment their prayers. A cassock worn by John Paul has reportedly been cut into 100,000 pieces to satisfy demand.
The scheme is run by the Vicariate of Rome, which is promoting sainthood for John Paul. The faithful also receive a “holy card” with a prayer to “obtain graces through the intercession of John Paul II”.
The Vicariate said that it has been overwhelmed by requests for the relics, with priority now being given to those who were praying for the sick or were themselves seriously ill.
But the scheme has caused disquiet in the Vatican, which is anxious to discourage the veneration of relics, seen as a medieval practice with no place in the modern church. “Wars were fought over the hunt for relics in the Middle Ages,” said Bishop Velasio De Paolis, secretary of the Apostolic Signature, the Vatican’s top judicial body.
Condemnation of the sale of relics – or simony – was one of the causes of the Reformation in the 16th century, together with usury and the sale of indulgences. All were later banned under Catholic canon law. “No-one can say whether venerating relics aids prayer, it depends on the faith of the believer”, Bishop De Paolis told La Stampa.
The Vicariate solicits donations from those who apply for its fragments, risking further criticism from the Vatican which forbids the sale of relics. The Vicariate claims the donations are needed to cover costs, with any surplus going towards the costs of John Paul’s “cause for sainthood”.
“This is not a commercial operation,” said Father Marco Fibbi, spokesman for the Vicariate. Fragments would be sent to those who did not make a payment as well as to those who did.
The relics on offer are known as ex indumentis, meaning cloth that the late Pope touched. The Vicariate said it had been overwhelmed by requests for the relics, and donations to the beatification website had increased to 1,200 a day from 300 a day when it was launched four months after John Paul’s death. Thousands continue to file every day past the late Pope’s tomb in the crypt of St Peter’s Basilica.
Pope Benedict XVI has put his predecessor on a fast track to beatification. At John Paul’s funeral two years ago mourners chanted Santo subito! – Sainthood now! To be beatified a candidate must be held by the Vatican to be responsible for a miraculous cure after death, a condition apparently met in the case of John Paul by a French nun who was cured of Parkinson’s disease after praying to him.
Donations to the website can be made by credit card or bank transfer. However, Monsignor Slawomir Oder, the Polish priest in charge of John Paul’s cause, warned devotees of the dangers of imitation websites offering false relics. Last year a religious souvenir shop near the Vatican withdrew supposed relics of John Paul from sale after admitting that the specks of cloth were “third-class relics” – pieces of cloth that had been laid on Pope John Paul’s tomb, rather than fragments of the Pope’s own clothing.
since when is veneration of relics concerning?
It is against canon law to sell relics.
“since when is veneration of relics concerning?”
I don’t know about the bishop quoted herein, but I don’t know anyone concerned about the proper veneration of relics.
It may be that the reporting here is distorted. It’s possible that there might be some concern that in the case of the late Pope John Paul II, the handling of relics could become commercialized.
Although it’s acceptable for folks to accept money directly to defray the costs of handling relics (shipping charges, boxes in which the relics might be shipped or contained), and donations are always welcome, of course, it would be sacrilegious, as well as a violation of Church law, to directly sell a relic.
sitetest
makes far more sense...
New Advent (as is usual) is very informative:
Simony is usually defined “a deliberate intention of buying or selling for a temporal price such things as are spiritual of annexed unto spirituals”. While this definition only speaks of purchase and sale, any exchange of spiritual for temporal things is simoniacal. Nor is the giving of the temporal as the price of the spiritual required for the existence of simony; according to a proposition condemned by Innocent XI (Denzinger-Bannwart, no. 1195) it suffices that the determining motive of the action of one party be the obtaining of compensation from the other.
Excommunication simply reserved to the Apostolic See is pronounced in the Constitution “Apostolicae Sedis” (12 Oct., 1869): (1) against persons guilty of real simony in any benefices and against their accomplices; (2) against any persons, whatsoever their dignity, guilty of confidential simony in any benefices; (3) against such as are guilty of simony by purchasing or selling admission into a religious order; (4) against all persons inferior to the bishops, who derive gain (quaestum facientes) from indulgences and other spiritual graces; (5) against those who, collecting stipends for Masses, realize a profit on them by having the Masses celebrated in places where smaller stipends are usually given. The last-mentioned provision was supplemented by subsequent decrees of the Sacred Congregation of the Council. The Decree “Vigilanti” (25 May, 1893) forbade the practice indulged in by some booksellers of receiving stipends and offering exclusively books and subscriptions to periodicals to the celebrant of the Masses. The Decree “Ut Debita” (11 May, 1904) condemned the arrangements according to which the guardians of shrines sometimes devoted the offerings originally intended for Masses partly to other pious purposes. The offenders against the two decrees just mentioned incur suspension ipso facto from their functions if they are in sacred orders; inability to receive higher orders if they are clerics inferior to the priests; excommunication of pronounced sentence (latae sententiae) if they belong to the laity.
Quite possibly the reporting is a tad lax.
This is a poorly reported article. The 100,000 relics are available for FREE. Some in my house have requested relics. There is nothing concerning here. Besides, how could the Vatican do something that it itself disagreed with or found concerning.
Those who might find this concerning are either Protestants or archliberal Catholics who wish the Church to abandon its spiritual mission to concentrate on doing social work and politics. Forget it. JPII, pray for us.
Ya think? Maybe?
MSM should be considered guilty of bias, distortion, fabrication, cherry-picking of facts, ignorance, stupidity, and sheer bloody-mindedness until proven otherwise.
With all these deep questions, I have a simple question: How do you cut a rob into 100,000 pieces?
As part of the development of popular veneration of a person, 2nd or 3rd class relics are routinely distributed. Typically they are very tiny fragments of fabric affixed to a holy card with an image of the person and some prayers for their beatification, typically something like this:
May we imitate the virtues of this person and may the Church recognize his virtues for the glory of God and the sanctification of the church.
This is typically done during the period when the Church calls someone “venerable” but not yet “blessed.” Once someone is declared blessed the prayers usually read something like this:
Through the intercession of this person, may God accomplish such and such.
Very carefully with very sharp scissors and a very good pair of reading glasses! :)
The faithful also receive a “holy card” with a prayer to “obtain graces through the intercession of John Paul II”.
Can anyone spell magik and divination?? Yikes!
Uh ...
Emm Ay Gee Eye Cee
Dee Eye Vee Eye Enn Ay Tee Eye Oh Enn
There’s the spelling.
Not that either has anything to do with the veneration of relics or the intercession of the saints.
But that’s OK. MSM certainly have no monopoly on bias, distortion, etc.
Reverend Ike once sent me a magic ‘prayer cloth’ that looked like it had been cut from a brown paper bag.
Vicariate of Rome Accepting Requests
VATICAN CITY, SEPT. 13, 2007 (Zenit.org).- People who want to receive a relic "ex indumentis" -- from the clothing -- or a holy card of Pope John Paul II, may do so by writing to the Vicariate of Rome.
The Vicariate of Rome is accepting requests via mail, fax or e-mail for the religious items. The petition should be sent to "Holy Cards and Relics Service," and should indicate a shipping address.
The holy cards contain the prayer to obtain graces through the intercession of the Servant of God John Paul II and can be requested in English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Polish and Portuguese.
Though the vicariate is not charging for the holy card, donations are accepted to cover the printing and mailing expenses.
For more information, visit the official multilingual Web site of the postulation of the cause of beatification and canonization.
Send requests to:
Vicariate of Rome -- 3rd Floor
"Totus Tuus"
Piazza San Giovanni in Laterano, 6/A
Rome, Italy 00184
Tel: +39 06 69893723
Fax: +39 06 69886240
To contact the Vicariate's Web site: http://www.vicariatusurbis.org/Beatificazione/Italiano/LeIniziative/RichiediUnaReliquiaExIndumentisESantino.htm
* * *
PRAYER FOR ASKING GRACES THROUGH THE INTERCESSION OF THE SERVANT OF GOD
POPE JOHN PAUL II
O Blessed Trinity
We thank You for having graced the Church
with Pope John Paul II
and for allowing the tenderness of your Fatherly care,
the glory of the cross of Christ,
and the splendor of the Holy Spirit,
to shine through him.
Trusting fully in Your infinite mercy
and in the maternal intercession of Mary,
he has given us a living image of Jesus the Good Shepherd,
and has shown us that holiness
is the necessary measure of ordinary Christian life
and is the way of achieving eternal communion with you.
Grant us, by his intercession, and according to Your will,
the graces we implore,
hoping that he will soon be numbered
among your saints.
Amen.
With ecclesiastical approval
CARDINAL CAMILLO RUINI
The Holy Father's Vicar General
For the Diocese of Rome
© Copyright 2007 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana
My guess would be via paper shredder or cheese grater.
Is there a way to request a fragment from a specific part of the robe? Afterall, wouldn’t a piece close to JP2’s heart be more desireable than a piece that he would have frequently sat upon?
In a related question, perhaps with theological consequences, was the robe washed before it was cut up? Washing might damage the robe’s spiritual flavor.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.