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the sacred relics are things like the Crown of Thorns which is at Notre Dame in Paris. The Cathedral here has a piece of the True Cross and a relic of St. Louis, King of France. They aren't worshiped, but they are tangible connections to the past. Collections like the one you describe are not normal, but they are the result of quests of true faith.

Any authenic relic from the life of Christ would be of great historical interest. To paraphrase from Indiana Jones - The Last Crusade, "This belongs in a museum or a cathedral!".

An obvious problem arises in the utter implausiblity of so many of the acclaimed relics, which must bother many Catholics. So much has been the obvious work of hucksters, such as the multiple skulls of John the Baptist present at the same time in history in various parts of medieval Europe. From the Catholic Digest: Relics for Sale.

A quest for the true faith shouldn't mean being side-tracked by very dubious artifacts and bones alleged to be from 2000 years ago. Wood, cloth, and thorns don't hold up that well, particularly when being handled by unknown people while being passed around (presumably) the Holy Land and then in Europe.

But the big point is in the words of our Lord to Thomas: "blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed". Relicts don't really help in Christian faith, either you believe already or you don't. And bogus relics are a credit only to the irreligious ancestors of P.T. Barnum, with their religious suckers born every minute. (It would be interesting to carbon age date the crown of thorns in Notre Dame.)

Yes, with God all things are possible. He made the earth, the sun, the moon and the stars, but His only Son said it was more blessed to believe without seeing physical proof.

Obviously, there are people who have hawked fake relics over the years. It still happens today. Ever watch the Antiques Road show? A collection of authentically fake relics would be interesting....

In the case of the real relics, i.e., the Crown of Thorns, The Shoud of Turin, the True Cross...all have been known for centuries and should have disintigrated by now. Why haven't they? The Crown of Thorns was brought to Paris as a result of a crusade, if I'm not mistaken. The French will tell you they stole it. At least they are honest about it.

It's a stroke of God's Will to see and know relics. True, not everyone has the privilege. That should not and does not change faith. In fact people have more faith in God than the relics. Imagine that.

You are correct "Blessed are they who can believe without seeing." That is most important here.

No doubt fake relics continue to tarnish Christianity's reputation and from my vantage point Christians should be wary, but this is a cross-denominational problem too. I have received letters from popular TV minister with enclosed prayer cloth that supposedly he touched and has God's power etc...

There was that Bible story about a woman who touched Jesus' cloak and either she or her child was healed that instant. Now it wasn't the power of the cloak but of her faith in Him who wore it.

There are genuine relics. Myself, I wouldn't know a fraud from the real and thus am skeptical in most cases. Belief in any relic isn't as far as I am aware required for salvation. But, would any Christian not want to show respect for something of his Savior or one of his Apostles, if he could know it was real?

Out of charity for our fellow Christians, we ought not to cast aspersions on those who seem to favor relics. It would be our duty though as XJones has done to gently remind them if their zeal becomes excessive so as to erase more important parts of the Christian faith:

More important though: Blessed are those who believe without seeing.