The remains of the Catholic saint Francis of Assisi were put on public display on Sunday for the first time in almost eight centuries. His hometown in central Italy is expecting hundreds of thousands of visitors on this occasion over the next month. TASR informs about it based on the report of the DPA agency.
- The remains of Francis of Assisi were put on public display for the first time in eight centuries.
- The relics are available in the Basilica of St. Francis until March 22.
- During the month, hundreds of thousands of visitors from all over the world are expected in Assisi.
- The remains were moved from the crypt to the Lower Temple in a display case.
- The authenticity of the saint’s bones was last confirmed by scientists in 2015.
The relics were made available in the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi until March 22, on the occasion of this year’s 800th anniversary of the saint’s death. According to the Order of Friars Minor (Franciscans), almost 400,000 people from all over the world have signed up to see them.
The remains of the saint were kept in a stone sarcophagus for centuries. On Saturday, the coffin was ceremoniously moved from the crypt to the basilica. Francis’s bones can now be viewed in her Lower Temple in a display case made of thick bulletproof glass.
Francis of Assisi (1181/82 – 1226) is one of the most famous saints of the Catholic Church. In 1228, two years after his death, Pope Gregory IX. declared him a saint and in 1939 Pope Pius XII. proclaimed the patron saint of Italy. Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who died last year, also chose his name after his election as pope.
Francis, the son of a rich cloth merchant from the city of Assisi, left his family at the beginning of the 13th century at the age of 20 and dedicated his life to the faith living as a hermit in voluntary poverty. He died on the evening of October 3, 1226, as he wished, undressed on the bare ground. The next day, he was buried in the Church of St. George in Assisi. In 1818, Pope Pius VII. allowed the Franciscans to uncover the grave – since then his bones have been scientifically examined several times and their authenticity has been confirmed several times, most recently in 2015.
