By Hannah Brockhaus for CNA
August 18, 2022 Catholic News Agency News Briefs 3 Print
Rome Newsroom, Aug 18, 2022 / 04:00 am (CNA).
On Aug. 18, the Catholic Church celebrates the feast of St. Helena.
The mother of Constantine the Great, St. Helena, is believed to have restored many sites in the Holy Land, where she discovered the cross on which Christ died and other relics from his Passion, some of which she brought back with her to Rome.
These relics can still be venerated today, in Rome’s Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem.
The basilica was originally a chapel designed by St. Helena to hold the relics of the True Cross found on Calvary. The chapel had been part of an imperial palace Constantine gave to his mother when he moved the capital of the Roman Empire to Constantinople.
The church has undergone many changes over time. One of the relics on display in the basilica’s relic chapel was rediscovered inside a wall during a restoration in the 15th century after it had likely been hidden there during an earlier renovation in the 1100s.
The Titulus Crucis, the title panel of the True Cross on which Jesus was crucified. In Latin, Greek and Hebrew, it says “Jesus the Nazarene King of the Jews.” Daniel Ibanez
The Titulus Crucis, Title of the Cross in Latin, was the wooden tablet hung on Christ’s cross explaining the reason for his Crucifixion. In Greek, Latin, and Hebrew it says: “Jesus the Nazarene King of the Jews.”
It is believed the Titulus Crucis was brought to the basilica in the sixth century. Other relics now on display were similarly not part of the relics tradition says St. Helena brought to Rome in the 4th century.
After her pilgrimage to the Holy Land, St. Helena brought fragments of the True Cross, the cross on which Jesus died.
Relics of Christ’s Passion in Rome’s Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem. The central reliquary holds a nail used in Christ’s Crucifixion. Daniel Ibanez/CNA
She also brought one of the nails used in Christ’s Crucifixion.
According to tradition, the Holy Stairs were also brought to Rome by St. Helena in the 4th century.
The Holy Stairs, also called the Scala Sancta, are held to be those which led to the praetorium of Pontius Pilate in Jerusalem, and which Christ would have ascended on his way to the trial before his Crucifixion.
The stairs are near the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran, and were first opened to the public more than 400 years ago by Sixtus V.
The Holy Stairs in 2019, without their protective wood coverings. Daniel Ibanez/CNA
So many pilgrims visited the stairs in the first century after they were opened to the public, the marble became worn down, creating deep furrows in the steps.
In 1724, Servant of God Benedict XIII covered the Holy Stairs in wood for their protection. They were uncovered for the first time in 2018, during a year-long restoration project — and in 2019, for a limited time visitors could venerate the marble steps without the wood coverings.
The Holy Stairs in 2019. The marble was uncovered temporarily as part of a restoration project. Daniel Ibanez/CNA
If you value the news and views Catholic World Report provides, please consider donating to support our efforts. Your contribution will help us continue to make CWR available to all readers worldwide for free, without a subscription. Thank you for your generosity!
Click here for more information on donating to CWR. Click here to sign up for our newsletter.
Pope Francis and Canada, Gen Z, Humanae Vitae, and adventures in synodality
Why the Vatican’s Secretariat of State is set to face a trial in the UK over the London property deal
The relic of the holy cloak of St. Joseph at the Basilica of St. Joseph al Trionfale in Rome. / Daniel Ibáñez/CNA.
Rome, Italy, Dec 7, 2021 / 03:10 am (CNA). The holy cloak of St. Joseph, a unique relic of the foster father of Jesus, has travel… […]
Detroit, Mich., Jan 12, 2022 / 16:39 pm (CNA). Gary Berthiaume, a former priest, withdrew his guilty pleas after being sentenced to spend up to 15 years in prison on charges he sexually abused at least three boys…. […]
Minsk, Belarus, Dec 23, 2020 / 02:34 pm (CNA).- Belarusian authorities announced Tuesday that Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz of Minsk-Mohilev, who was exiled in August, will be permitted to return to the country at Christmas.
“The Apostolic Nunciature express its gratitude to the State Authorities of Belarus for responding positively to Pope Francis’ request to return Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz to celebrate the Nativity of the Lord with the faithful of which he is pastor,” the nunciature in Belarus stated Dec. 22.
Archbishop Kondrusiewicz’ passport had been invalidated, and he was blocked from returning to Belarus from Poland by border guards Aug. 31. The archbishop has spoken in defense of protests following a disputed presidential election.
Belarus has seen widespread protests since that election. The protests began Aug. 9 after president Alexander Lukashenko was declared to have won that day’s election with 80% of the vote.
Lukashenko, who has been president of Belarus since the position was created in 1994, has suggested Archbishop Kondrusiewicz might be a citizen of more than one country.
Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti, apostolic nuncio to the United Kingdom, acted as a special envoy of Pope Francis to Lukashenko, delivering a letter Dec. 17 with a request regarding Archbishop Kondrusiewicz. Archbishop Gugerotti was apostolic nuncio to Belarus from 2011 to 2015.
“Out of deepest respect for the Pope and because of good personal relations, the Belarusian head of state considered it possible to meet the Pope’s request and gave an instruction to find a solution to the issue, taking into account all available legal mechanisms,” Vladimir Makei, the Belarusian foreign minister, said Dec. 22, according to the state-owned Belarusian Telegraph Agency.
“The upcoming great holiday of Christmas and festive events were an additional reason to take this decision on Metropolitan of Minsk and Mogilev Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz despite a number of negative things about this person,” Makei added.
The foreign minister said Belarus and Vatican City “always discuss all cooperation-related issues in an open and candid way.”
“By the way, we closely cooperate with the Vatican within the framework of various international organizations. We support each other virtually across all areas of international, regional and bilateral agenda,” Makei added.
Relations between the Holy See and Belarus have been strained over claims the Church in Belarus is being used to exert foreign influence, as well as Archbishop Kondrusiewicz’ exile.
Archbishop Ante Jozić, who was appointed apostolic nuncio to Belarus earlier this year, arrived in the country in October, being met by both ecclesial and state authorities.
And Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Vatican’s Secretary for Relations with States, visited Belarus in September in an attempt to resolve the impasse regarding Archbishop Kondrusiewicz.
In Belarus thousands of protesters of the election results have been detained, including a number of priests. At least four people have died in the unrest.
Electoral officials said that the opposition candidate, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, earned 10% of the vote. The opposition claims that she actually garned at least 60% of votes.
Tsikhanouskaya was detained for several hours after complaining to the electoral committee. She and several other opposition leaders are now in self-imposed exile in Lithuania or other nearby countries.
The US, UK, and EU no longer recognize Lukashenko as the Belarusian president. Canada, the UK, and the EU have placed sanctions on senior Belarusian figures.
Lukashenko secured a $1.5 billion loan from Russian president Vladimir Putin earlier this month, and Putin has denounced “external pressure” on Belarus.
In September the Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Minsk-Mohilev denied reports from Russia’s foreign intelligence agency that the Church in Belarus is being used by the US, calling them “complete nonsense, fake information.”
“Some media outlets published information provided by the head of Russia’s foreign intelligence service Sergey Naryshkin. This is a fake, this is nonsense. He spoke about some provocations, about the fact that the United States, the CIA and other organizations are trying to use the Catholic Church to undermine the state system in our country,” Bishop Yury Kasabutski said during his homily at a Mass in Minsk.
Naryshkin is director of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service. The Russian news agency Interfax reported Sept. 29 that Naryshkin had said, “the United States is also unceremoniously interfering in the religious situation in Belarus … The clergy of the Roman Catholic Church are being asked to openly criticize the Belarusian authorities and to use religious events, including sermons, prayers, religious processions, to conduct opposition political propaganda among believers.”
Archbishop Kondrusiewicz has told CNA: “I was accused that I received from Warsaw some instructions, or something, but I didn’t visit Warsaw.” He said he had visited eastern Poland to celebrate the First Communion of a relative.
Archbishop Kondrusiewicz was born in 1946 in Odelsk, in what was then the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (part of the USSR), to an ethnic Polish family. The Byelorussian SSR was succeeded in 1991 by the Republic of Belarus.
Your email address will not be published.
All comments posted at Catholic World Report are moderated. While vigorous debate is welcome and encouraged, please note that in the interest of maintaining a civilized and helpful level of discussion, comments containing obscene language or personal attacks—or those that are deemed by the editors to be needlessly combative or inflammatory—will not be published. Thank you.
How Pope Francis is changing the shape of the Roman Curia
Atheism, Poetry, and the Bible
The gas chamber in a little white pill
Why the Vatican’s Secretariat of State is set to face a trial in the UK over the London property deal
“Pope denounces dissident priests who question church teaching on celibacy, ordaining women” “Pope Assails ‘Disobedience’ Among Priests” “Pope Benedict XVI slams priests…” “Pope rips into dissident priests…” Glancing over today’s headlines about Pope Benedict’s Holy […]
Sign up to receive a weekly email with news, analysis, and commentary from a voice you can trust!