Fake John Paul II cloth relics sold near Vatican: report

0 Comments | AFP, November, 2006

ROME (AFP) — Unscrupulous traders are selling fake relics of the late pope John Paul II near the Vatican, a news agency specialised in papal news reported. Pilgrims and tourists are being offered medallions enclosing a tiny shred of cloth and labelled "relics of John Paul II" by souvenir shops, the I-Media agency reported.

They are priced at three for 5.25 euros (3.85 to 6.74 dollars), according to size. The sellers claim that the fragments of cloth come from vestments worn by the late pope during his lifetime and rubbed against his tomb in the crypt of St. Peter's Basilica. These unauthorised relics do not haeve Vatican approval, nor that of the priest in charge of the process of beatifying the late Polish pontiff, Monsignor Slawomir Oder. "These relics are not recognised,"...