A post over at Lesser of Two Weevils got me to thinking about relics and about the fact that this Pope thought for the future and prepared a marvelous relic or sort of relic himself.
At the end of the "Treasure of the Vatican" Exhibition is a bronze cast of the Pope's hand. It was the only piece of art you were allowed to touch, and it was a thrill, even when he was alive to be able to touch it, to shake hands as it were with this great pontiff. If you all get a chance, if it is still touring, go and see. Meet and greet the Pope and give him your most cheerful salutation. We are so fortunate to have such a forward thinking man as our guide through this life. He even thought ahead to living us so substantial a reminder of himself!
There's also a bronze cast of his hand at the John Paul II Cultural Center in Washington.
Dear Tom,
This looks very much like the one I saw, I think. Although I seem to remember that you could actually hold/shake this hand. But honestly, I could be imagining that at this remove.
Thanks for the reference. I wonder, if he were to become a saint, whether something of this nature would be classed as a relic, and if so, of what class.
shalom,
Steven
Wouldn't it be second class - something the saint had touched.
First is their body.
Third is something touched to second class.