Online offers of St Francis of Assisi ‘relics’ spark warning

According to the friars responsible for the saint’s shrine in Assisi, the items circulating online are almost certainly fraudulent and represent an attempt to commercialise objects that the Church considers sacred.

The alarm was raised after listings appeared on popular e-commerce platforms such as eBay and Etsy claiming to offer relics connected to the medieval saint – among them supposed fragments of bone, traces of blood and pieces of clothing attributed to St Francis. Some of the items had high prices tags, running into several hundred dollars.

Br Giulio Cesareo, head of communications for the Franciscan friars in Assisi, told the news agency Kathpress that relics are never legitimate commercial objects. He described the online offerings simply as a fraud.

For the Church, he said, relics are spiritual treasures belonging to the community of believers and therefore cannot be treated as consumer goods.

Br Cesareo expressed particular concern that buyers might be deceived into believing they were acquiring authentic devotional objects. The phenomenon, he observed, risks reducing sacred items to the level of everyday merchandise, “as if they were dish soap, T-shirts or hand cream”, when in reality they hold a completely different meaning within the Catholic tradition.

Authentic relics are normally preserved inside sealed reliquaries and accompanied by official documentation certifying their origin. They are placed in churches or sanctuaries where they can be venerated, not traded. Church law explicitly forbids their sale.

In a 2017 instruction, Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, reiterated that relics must remain sealed and safeguarded in conditions that respect their sacred character. They must also be accompanied by ecclesiastical certificates confirming authenticity.

A special Jubilee Year of St Francis proclaimed by Pope Leo XIV is taking place from January 10, 2026, to January 10, 2027, marking the eighth centenary of the death of the saint.

FULL STORY

Online sales of St Francis of Assisi ‘relics’ spark warning (By Valentina Di Giorgio/Zenit)

Year of Saint Francis: ‘Indulgence is an encounter with God, not a spiritual shortcut’ (Vatican News)