Editing Relic (section)

===Classifications and prohibitions in the Catholic Church===
[[File:Relic of Bishop Alfredo F. Verzosa.jpg|thumb|First-class relic of the [[Alfredo Verzosa|Servant of God Alfredo F. Verzosa]] (''Ex Ossibus'', “from [the] bone”)|250x250px]]

[[File:Second class relic of Saints.jpg|thumb|Second-class relics of Venerable Maria Teresa Spinelli, Venerable Santo of St. Dominic, and Venerable Giovanni of St. William (''Ex Indumentis'')|187x187px]]

[[File:Third class relic of Saint Therese of Lisieux.jpg|thumb|Third-class relic of [[Saint Therese of Lisieux]] (''Reliqua Tertiae classis'')|187x187px]]

In Catholic theology, sacred relics must not be worshipped, because only God is worshipped and adored. Instead, the veneration given to them was "[[Veneration|dulia]]". [[Saint Jerome]] declared, "We do not worship, we do not adore, for fear that we should bow down to the creature rather than to the Creator, but we venerate the relics of the martyrs in order the better to adore Him whose martyrs they are."<ref>Jerome, ''Ad Riparium'', i, P.L., XXII, 907.</ref>

{{anchor|Classes}}<!-- [[First-class relic]], [[Second-class relic]], [[Third-class relic]] redirect here -->Until 2017, the Catholic Church divided relics into three classes:
* '''First-class relics:''' items directly associated with the events of Christ's life (the Manger, [[True Cross]], etc.) or the physical remains of a saint (a bone, a hair, skull,<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.11141/ia.59.8 | issue=59 | title=The High-Status Late Medieval Skull Shaped Relic in Turku Cathedral, Finland – a study of its origin with oxygen and strontium isotope analyses | year=2022 | journal=Internet Archaeology | last1 = Lahtinen | first1 = Maria | doi-access=free }}</ref> a limb, blood, etc.). Traditionally, a martyr's relics are often more prized than the relics of other saints. Parts of the saint were significant to their life are also more prized; King St. [[Stephen of Hungary]]'s right forearm is especially important due to his status as a ruler. A famous theologian's head may be his most important relic; the head of St. [[Thomas Aquinas]] was removed by the monks at the Cistercian abbey at [[Fossanova]] where he died. If a saint travelled often, then the bones of his feet may be prized. Catholic teaching prohibits relics to be divided up into small, unrecognizable parts if they are to be used in liturgy (i.e., as in an altar; see rubrics listed in Rite of Dedication of a Church and an Altar).
* '''Second-class relics:''' items that the saint owned or frequently used, for example, a [[crucifix]], [[rosary]], book, etc. Again, an item more important in the saint's life is thus a more important relic. Sometimes a second-class relic is a part of an item that the saint wore (a shirt, a glove, etc.) and is known as ''[[ex indumentis]]'' ("from the clothing").
* '''Third-class relics:''' any object that has been in contact with a first- or second-class relic.<ref>The Catholic Source Book ''A Comprehensive Collection of Information about the Catholic Church {{ISBN|0-15-950653-0}}''</ref> Most third-class relics are small pieces of cloth, though in the first millennium oil was popular; the [[Monza ampullae]] contained oil collected from lamps burning before the major sites of Christ's life, and some reliquaries had holes for oil to be poured in and out again. Many people call the cloth touched to the bones of saints "''ex brandea''". But ''ex brandea'' strictly refers to pieces of clothing that were touched to the body or tombs of the apostles. It is a term that is used only for such; it is not a synonym for a third-class relic.
In 2017, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints abolished the relics of the third degree, introducing a two-stage scale of classification of relics: significant (insigni) and non-significant (non insigni) relics. The first are the bodies or their significant parts, as well as the entire contents of the urn with the ashes preserved after cremation. The second includes small fragments of the bodies, as well as objects used by saints and blesseds.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Instruction "Relics in the Church: Authenticity and Conservation" (8 December 2017) |url=https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/csaints/documents/rc_con_csaints_doc_20171208_istruzione-reliquie_en.html |access-date=2022-05-07 |website=www.vatican.va}}</ref>

The sale or disposal by other means of "sacred relics" (meaning first and second class) without the permission of the Apostolic See is now strictly forbidden by canon 1190 of the [[1983 Code of Canon Law|1983 ''Code of Canon Law'']].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P4D.HTM |title=Code of Canon Law |publisher=Holy See |access-date=2013-03-04 |url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130303003850/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P4D.HTM |archive-date=2013-03-03 }}</ref> However, the Catholic Church permitted the sale of third-class relics.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.scripturecatholic.com/catholic-relics/#Third_Class_Relics_Or_Even_Fourth |title=Catholic Relics: Third Class Relics |date=27 May 2019 |access-date=2019-11-07}}</ref> Relics may not be placed upon the altar for public veneration, as that is reserved for the display of the [[Blessed Sacrament]] (host or prosphora and Eucharistic wine after consecration in the sacrament of the Eucharist).<ref name=McNamara>{{cite web|url=http://www.ewtn.com/library/Liturgy/zlitur288.htm|title=Venerating Relics at Mass}}</ref>

<!--The gallery should remain between the sections on Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy, as it contains images pertaining to both-->
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File:Rome San Pietro in Vincoli 12-1-2011 10-38-51.jpg|[[Liberation of Saint Peter|St. Peter's chains]], preserved in [[San Pietro in Vincoli]], Rome, a second-class relic
File:Strdubmainaltar.jpg|Main Altar of [[St. Raphael's Cathedral (Dubuque)|St. Raphael's Cathedral]], [[Dubuque, Iowa]], containing the remains of [[Saint Cessianus]], a boy [[martyr]]ed during the [[Diocletianic Persecution]]
File:Relics of Saint Demetrius.jpg|Relics of [[St. Demetrius]] in the cathedral of [[Thessalonika]], Greece
File:Visoki Decani 08.JPG|Relic of the [[True Cross]], [[Decani Monastery]], [[Serbia]]
File:Relic of Pope St. John Paul II 7119.jpg|Relic of [[Pope John Paul II|Pope St. John Paul II]], declared a saint in 2014, in the [[Hong Kong Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception]]
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