Give it Back! - A Message to a Racist Church.

The prime reason to become a Catholic is because it is true, and it works. The reality of the power of relics has found its way back into our theological conversations.

One of the key aspects of Catholicism is its insistence on the reality of the supernatural and the miraculous. The Mass itself for example, is a constant miracle. There is something deeply moving about knowing that approximately 4 to 5 Catholic masses begin every second worldwide. This equates to roughly 8,000 to 9,000 masses being celebrated at any given moment. The sacrifice of Jesus for our sins is being actualised, perpetually and persistently piercing time and space for us. A recognition of the miraculous and the supernatural is what defines Catholic spirituality.

The Protestant mind set, by contrast, constrained by empiricism, and dulled by a certain spiritual myopia, has always found the miraculous difficult. And never more so than with the power of relics.

I was struck by the coincidence that in the very week that I found myself part of a group of Catholic pilgrims meeting in Canterbury, venerating the head of Saint Thomas More, buried under the flagstones of a local Anglican church, the Anglican Parish Council should begin discussions about digging it up to put it on display.

When it was announced as part of our program that we would be venerating his head, I was astonished when I discovered that it was ‘owned’ by an Anglican church.

What were they doing with St Thomas More’s head?

The answer is that More’s daughter, Margaret Roper, retrieved it after his execution, and ensured its burial with her in the Roper family vault within the church. She preserved it in spices before her death in 1544, and it was later placed in a niche in the vault. The church, like all the churches and cathedrals was sequestrated (stolen) by the state and become part of the Church of England.

All this suddenly moves from an issue locked in history to a matter for the present moment. However, irritating it is to the Anglicans, Catholics have constantly raised their voices in protest, reminding the state that Catholic Churches were stolen at the Reformation, and suggesting that consideration be given to returning them.