Thousands apply for free relics of Pope John Paul

FROM NICK PISA IN ROME
A WEBSITE offering relics of Pope John Paul II’s clothing is doing a roaring trade as his Cause for canonisation progresses.
Parts of the late Pontiff’s robes are being offered on the website of the Diocese of Rome for free, although donations “to cover postage and packing” are happily received.
Officials revealed that they had received tens of thousands of requests for relics from all over the world. They have decided to authorise the distribution of relics to combat fake relics being bought and sold over the internet.
Applications for the relics – tiny snippets of cloth from John Paul’s white robes – are known in Latin as ex indumentis and available only via an e-mail request.
The cloth is fixed on to a card featuring an image of Pope John Paul, who died in April 2005, and a prayer to him. The applications are made for the official Rome
diocese website www.vicariatusurbis.org on a webpage entitled Cause for the Beatification and Canonisation of Pope John Paul II.
A strapline running across the home page from the Cause’s postulator Fr Slawomir Oder said: “I thank you for your generous donations made to support the Cause.
“I apologise for the delay in sending out relics ex indumentis of Pope John Paul. The response time is much longer than anticipated due to the great volume of requests.” On the same webpage was a link to a webcam positioned above the tomb of Pope John Paul II below St Peter’s Basilica in Rome which attracts thousands of pilgrims every day.
Technically speaking, according to the rules of the Church ex indumentis are only available if the person in question is already a saint or has been declared blessed, which does not apply to Pope John Paul II. Fr Marco Fibbi, a spokesman for the Diocese of Rome, said: “This is not a commercial operation at all. If anything this is to combat the sale of fake relics being offered to the faithful.
“What we have arranged is that a small piece of cloth from the robes worn by Pope John Paul II is placed on a card and made available to anyone who requests it.
“They are primarily aimed at the sick or those who are in need of the help and intercession of Pope John Paul II, maybe for the recovery of an ill relative, and we get thousands of requests from all over the world.
“In the strictest sense relics such as these should only come from a saint but in this case John Paul II is very close to standing on that honoured altar.”