Posted on 09/06/2013 7:15:37 AM PDT by Alex Murphy
A relic hunter dubbed 'Indiana Bones' has lifted the lid on a macabre collection of 400-year-old jewel-encrusted skeletons unearthed in churches across Europe.
Art historian Paul Koudounaris hunted down and photographed dozens of gruesome skeletons in some of the world's most secretive religious establishments.
Incredibly, some of the skeletons, said to be the remains of early Christian martyrs, were even found hidden away in lock-ups and containers.
They are now the subject of a new book, which sheds light on the forgotten ornamented relics for the first time.
Thousands of skeletons were dug up from Roman catacombs in the 16th century and installed in towns around Germany, Austria and Switzerland on the orders of the Vatican.
They were sent to Catholic churches and religious houses to replace the relics destroyed in the wake of the Protestant Reformation in the 1500s.
Mistaken for the remains of early Christian martyrs, the morbid relics, known as the Catacomb Saints, became shrines reminding of the spiritual treasures of the afterlife.
They were also symbols of the Catholic Church's newly found strength in previously Protestant areas.
Each one was painstakingly decorated in thousands of pounds worth of gold, silver and gems by devoted followers before being displayed in church niches.
Some took up to five years to decorate.
They were renamed as saints, although none of them qualified for the title under the strict rules of the Catholic church which require saints to have been canonised.
But by the 19th century they had become morbid reminders of an embarrassing past and many were stripped of their honours and discarded.
Mr Koudounaris' new book, Heavenly Bodies: Cult Treasures and Spectacular Saints from the Catacombs, is the first time the skeletons have appeared in print.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Uh-oh, this has just gotten hugh
Multiple reports say Schoenborn nailed the swimsuit contest, looking fierce in a red two-piece that accentuated his abs, and had mastered the art of walking in stilettos, a skill integral to the Pope's role of walking on eggshells around questions of sexual abuse. But his reputation as a mama's boy did Schoenborn in. Even his vocal talents during a puppet show using the heads of Sts. Peter and Paul, with Schoenborn dressed as the Virgin Mary, couldn't save him."He really did make it sound like those severed heads were talking," said Cardinal Timothy Dolan. "But in the end, I just couldn't vote for the guy."
-- from the online article Schoenborn Nails Swimsuit But Not Enough For Pope
The day modern American protestants introduce anything approaching good art in their churches will be a great day for me. Not speaking about colonial American churches, which are things of beauty. Or St. John the Divine - which looks pretty Catholic actually.
What of artistic merit have modern American Catholics introduced in their churches? There have been quite a few extraordinarily ugly structures. What else?
Still insisting the opinion of one cranky individual is representative of all?
Doubling down on it, huh?
“I can’t help but think that the reason why these things are exalted is to propagate the Roman Catholic religion and assert it MUST be true because of these miracles.”
Of course that is the reason. It’s exactly why these old bones were trotted out to be displayed on this thread, isn’t it? Yet they are not incorruptible, or unique, and it some cases the claims made about them amount to outright fraud.
Now, I ask: if Roman Catholicism is the One True Religion from God, then why do they need fraudulent miracles to prove their case?
Insecurity?
I notice not one of you has chided this “cranky” person on his opinion that the SC must be destroyed. Once someone does it, I’ll change my mind. But I’m not counting on it.
Many modern Catholic churches are horrible, indeed. This came about around Vatican 2 which did a lot to destroy the beauty of the Mass and its many rituals. As well as the hymns and awful architecture! Still, there’s nothing worse than a 1960s Methodist church. They invariably look more like a gymnasium than a church.
“Is it only “religious bigotry” when it’s criticism of the Roman Catholic Church? Are all the non-Catholic Christians here supposed to just bear it when Catholics go at them and should they not be entitled to defend their beliefs - even when it disproves something Roman Catholicism holds?”
Good point. There are plenty of Catholics around here who love to tell us that we “stole” the Bible from them, or say that we are heretics, etc. When is the last time miss m accused THEM of bigotry?
I’m guessing the answer is never, since she seems to hold similar sentiments herself.
“As every individual cannot claim to be prefect, neither can any Christian sect can claim to be “Holier than Thou”I know this will make both sides of this argument howl but it is true.”
You’re absolutely right. However, I think there is only one Christian sect that consistently and continually claims to be “holiest”. I’ve never seen any Protestant, or Orthodox group, for that matter, make the self-aggrandizing claims that Catholics make here just about every day.
Ha! Saying that idolatry should be wiped out is hatred?
Then I guess you’d better burn your Bibles, because they are full of exactly that kind of talk from the Big Guy himself!
Remind me again of the Bible verse where God commanded us to go out and make pretty things for Him?
you have been a freeper for how long now?
That’s easy enough to check out.
Something beautiful for God. I think Mother Theresa said that. Frankly, God doesn’t have to write everything down for me to know he loves beauty. Truth and beauty, in fact!
What I find amusing is that the more you guys write about “idolatry” the more you sound like that good Catholic, Savonarola.
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