# Are/were relics installed in all Catholic churches? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 28, 2009, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-were-relics-installed-in-all-catholic-churches/491101 "2009-03-28T16:42:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Frantic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/2acd7d/32.png) [@Frantic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frantic)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2009, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-were-relics-installed-in-all-catholic-churches/491101/1 "2009-03-28T16:42:49Z")
I’ve heard from various non-verifiable sources that all Catholic churches have a “holy relic” built into them- altars and corner stones are the places mentioned most often. Some sources said it stopped being done in 1969; others say that it is still being done. These relics are usually body parts of saints, with the occasion true cross splinter tossed in to keep it interesting. I’m not asking about the validity of these items- there are enough cross splinters to build an ark- but whether it was and is still being done. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2009, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-were-relics-installed-in-all-catholic-churches/491101/2 "2009-03-28T16:58:54Z")
I saw lots of “holy relics” in Europe, but I haven’t heard any mention of them here in the US. On preview, it appears that Our Lady of the Angels cathedral, the mother church of the LA archdiocese, is home to the relics of [Saint Vibiana](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Vibiana), brought from Rome by Thaddeus Amat y Brusi, the first bishop of Los Angeles. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2009, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-were-relics-installed-in-all-catholic-churches/491101/3 "2009-03-28T17:18:44Z")
I went to parochial school through high school, from 1956 to 1969. We were taught that all Catholic churches had a relic of the saint they were named for built into the altar. Note that relics come in several classes, ranging from “first-class relics,” a part of a saint’s body or an object associated with Christ; “second-class relics,” a possession of a saint during his or her lifetime; adn a “third-class relic,” something that had been touched to a first-class relic. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2009, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-were-relics-installed-in-all-catholic-churches/491101/4 "2009-03-28T17:22:24Z")
From [The Catholic Encyclopedia](http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01351d.htm) (1917 edition): > [@](#): > > Altar Cavity > > This is a small square or oblong chamber in the body of the altar, in which are placed, according to the “Pontificale Romanum” (De Eccles. Consecratione) the relics of two canonized martyrs although the Cong. Sac. Rit. (16 February, 1906) decided that if the relic of only one martyr is placed in it the consecration is valid, to these may be properly added the relics of other saints, especially of those in whose honour the church of the altar is consecrated. These relics must be actual portions of the saints’ bodies, not simply of their garments or of other objects which they may have used or touched; the relics must, moreover be authenticated. So it was certainly once the practice; I’m not certain that it is still done. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2009, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-were-relics-installed-in-all-catholic-churches/491101/5 "2009-03-28T17:26:11Z")
According to [this](http://www.catholic.org/featured/headline.php?ID=2119) the practice is still current: > [@](#): > > ROME, MAY 4, 2005 (Zenit) - Answered by Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum Pontifical University. > > Q: I would like to know the present teaching of the Church, with documentary evidence, on fixing relics of the saints at the altar of Holy Mass. – K.S., Nagapattinam, India > > A: The General Instruction of the Roman Missal, No. 302, contains the following statement: “The practice of placing relics of Saints, even those not Martyrs, under the altar to be dedicated is fittingly retained. Care should be taken, however, to ensure the authenticity of such relics.” ---
**Author:** ![imfloating](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bc79bd/32.png) [@imfloating](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/imfloating)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2009, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-were-relics-installed-in-all-catholic-churches/491101/6 "2009-03-28T17:36:38Z")
Interesting…I thought they just had skeletons in the closet. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2009, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-were-relics-installed-in-all-catholic-churches/491101/7 "2009-03-28T19:10:30Z")
> [@](#): > > I went to parochial school through high school, from 1956 to 1969. We were taught that all Catholic churches had a relic of the saint they were named for built into the altar. This certainly isn’t the case, since not all Catholic churches are named after saints in the first place. The two Catholic churches in town here are named Holy Rosary and Resurrection, and I’ve also seen churches with names like Holy Family and Christ the King. I imagine that churches named after or associated with a particular saint would probably prefer to have a relic of that saint, but there’s only so many relics of, say, the Virgin Mary to go around (in fact, there canonically wouldn’t be _any_ first-order relics of Mary, and very few second- or third-order relics) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2009, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-were-relics-installed-in-all-catholic-churches/491101/8 "2009-03-28T19:18:51Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > This certainly isn’t the case, I admit I was usually looking out the window during Religion class.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Sensitive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58956e/32.png) [@Darth\_Sensitive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Sensitive)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2009, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-were-relics-installed-in-all-catholic-churches/491101/9 "2009-03-28T19:20:35Z")
My church back home is St. Joseph. I know we don’t have anything of his (Dallas suburb). We didn’t have anything there as far as I know for the longest time, but we renovated about 10 years ago and added a pair, from some minor saints that I don’t remember, under the new altar. The priest said it was very disconcerting to be underneath a couple of thousand pounds of sandstone putting in some bones - said it impressed his own mortality on him. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2009, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-were-relics-installed-in-all-catholic-churches/491101/10 "2009-03-28T19:26:14Z")
I remember seeing a piece of the block that Paul was beheaded on (allegedly) in the Church of St. Paul of the Shipwreck in Malta, given to them by JPII. I guess that would be a third-order relic, right? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2009, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-were-relics-installed-in-all-catholic-churches/491101/11 "2009-03-28T20:23:46Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I went to parochial school through high school, from 1956 to 1969. We were taught that all Catholic churches had a relic of the saint they were named for built into the altar. Note that relics come in several classes, ranging from “first-class relics,” a part of a saint’s body or an object associated with Christ; “second-class relics,” a possession of a saint during his or her lifetime; adn a “third-class relic,” something that had been touched to a first-class relic. Wait, there actually is such a thing as a first-class and a second-class relic? I thought the writers of the Tentacles of Doom episode of Father Ted made that up. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2009, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-were-relics-installed-in-all-catholic-churches/491101/12 "2009-03-28T20:26:27Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I imagine that churches named after or associated with a particular saint would probably prefer to have a relic of that saint, but there’s only so many relics of, say, the Virgin Mary to go around (in fact, there canonically wouldn’t be _any_ first-order relics of Mary, and very few second- or third-order relics) Sure there would. Though both Jesus and Mary are said to have ascended bodily into Heaven, they reportedly left behind various bodily remnants now venerated as relics: hair and fingernail cuttings, milk teeth, blood, and of course, the [Holy Prepuce](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Prepuce) (i.e., foreskin). ---
**Author:** ![apollonia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2bfe46/32.png) [@apollonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/apollonia)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2009, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-were-relics-installed-in-all-catholic-churches/491101/13 "2009-03-28T23:42:11Z")
I was always taught that churches, when named for a saint, had a bit of saint embedded in the altar, and churches not named for a saint had some other bit of holy relic in them somewhere–bit of the True Cross, a shred of Christ’s burial cloth, something. I was also often looking out the window during Religion class, or more often staring across the classroom at the boy I had a crush on. Relics seem to acquire assorted nutbars with some degree of frequency. My Grade Nine religion teacher took great pride in telling us all that one day, SHE was going to be a third-degree relic–you see, one time she had met Mother Teresa, and she had shook hands with her, and obviously one day Mother Teresa would die and be made a saint, and one day she herself would die, and then, you see? Presto. Third-degree relic. The subtext was, of course, that one day there would undoubtedly be a parish named **St. Apollonia’s-Grade-Nine-Religion-Teacher** and it would probably have a life-size statue of said teacher not too far off the altar. I’m not precisely sure on how third-degree relics work, but considering that this lady was a nutjob in pretty much every way, I would not be in the slightest surprised if she had it all wrong. It’s a good thing I had some really outstanding religion teachers to oust some of the weird ideas this lady taught us all.