Editing Relic (section)

===Counterfeits===
In the absence of real ways of assessing authenticity, relic-collectors became prey to the unscrupulous, and some extremely high prices were paid. Forgeries proliferated from the very beginning. [[Augustine]] already denounced impostors who wandered around disguised as monks, making a profit from the sale of spurious relics.<ref>[http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1314.htm "Of the Works of Monks"] (St. Augustine): "36...Some hawking about limbs of martyrs, if indeed of martyrs"</ref> In his ''Admonitio Generalis'' of 789, [[Charlemagne]] ordered that "the false names of martyrs and the uncertain memorials of saints should not be venerated."<ref name=head/> The Fourth Lateran Council (1215) of the Catholic Church condemned abuses such as counterfeit relics and exaggerated claims.<ref name=odonnell/>

Pieces of the [[True Cross]] were one of the most highly sought-after of such relics; many churches claimed to possess a piece of it, so many that [[John Calvin]] famously remarked that there were enough pieces of the True Cross to build a ship from.<ref>Calvin, ''Traité Des Reliques''</ref> By the middle of the 16th century, the number of relics in Christian churches became enormous, and there was practically no possibility to distinguish the authentic from the falsification, since both of them had been in the temples for centuries and were objects for worship. In 1543, John Calvin wrote about fake relics in his ''[[Treatise on Relics]]'', in which he described the state of affairs with relics in Catholic churches. Calvin says that the saints have two or three or more bodies with arms and legs, and even a few extra limbs and heads.<ref>[[:ru:Радциг, Николай Иванович|Radtsig, N. I.]] [http://www.srednieveka.ru/upload/journal/01.150-163.pdf "Traite des reliques" Кальвина, его происхождение и значение] / [http://www.srednieveka.ru/journal.php?op=cat&id=1171 Сборник «Средние века»], №01 (1942) / Ежегодник [[Russian Academy of Sciences|РАН]] / [[Nauka (publisher)|Nauka]].</ref><ref>[[Philip Schaff]]. [http://www.ccel.org/s/schaff/history/8_ch15.htm "History of the Christian Church"]. Volume VIII: "History Of The Reformation, 1517–1648". Third Book. The Reformation in French Switzerland, or The Calvinistic Movement. / Chapter XV. Theological Controversies. / § 122. Against the Worship of Relics. 1543.</ref>

Due to the existence of counterfeit relics, the Church began to regulate the use of relics. [[Canon law (Catholic Church)|Canon Law]] required the authentication of relics if they were to be publicly [[Veneration|venerated]]. They had to be sealed in a [[reliquary]] and accompanied by a certificate of authentication, signed and sealed by someone in the [[Congregation for the Causes of Saints|Congregation for Saints]],<ref name="Vatican Website">{{cite web |title=Instruction for Conducting Diocesan or Eparchial Inquiries in the Causes of Saints (Rome 2007) – Authentication |url=https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/csaints/documents/rc_con_csaints_doc_20070517_sanctorum-mater_en.html#Authentication |website=Vatican Website |publisher=Congregation for the Causes of Saints |access-date=23 October 2019 }}</ref> or by the local Bishop where the saint lived. Without such authentication, relics are not to be used for public veneration.<ref name=AmericanCatholic.Org>{{cite web|title=AmericanCatholic.Org|url=http://www.americancatholic.org/Messenger/Jan1998/Wiseman.asp|website=American Catholic|access-date=10 May 2015}}</ref> The Congregation for Saints, as part of the [[Roman Curia]], holds the authority to verify relics in which documentation is lost or missing. The documents and reliquaries of authenticated relics are usually affixed with a [[Seal (emblem)|wax seal]].<ref name="Vatican Website"/>