Relics are just so medevial
Fragments of a cassock worn by Pope John Paul II have been available from vicariatusurbis.org the site for his beautification cause. The relics were available for free (though postage has to be paid), but next to the relic initiative users can click on "Freewill offering for the cause" towards the beautification.
The scheme is run by the Vicariate of Rome, which is promoting sainthood for John Paul. The faithful also receive a “holy card” with a prayer to “obtain graces through the intercession of John Paul II”.
Maybe they use scheme as a non-pejorative term in England, but judging by the rest of the article this doesn't appear to be the case. Besides why sneer quotes around holy card?
But the scheme has caused disquiet in the Vatican, which is anxious to discourage the veneration of relics, seen as a medieval practice with no place in the modern church. “Wars were fought over the hunt for relics in the Middle Ages,” said Bishop Velasio De Paolis, secretary of the Apostolic Signature, the Vatican’s top judicial body.
Funny I guess nobody told the writers of the Catechism that it was only a medieval practice. Besides just who in the Vatican is disquieted? I guess you can just take quotes from Bishop Velasio De Paolis that appeared in a La Stampa article and then just assert whatever the heck you want to.
1674 Besides sacramental liturgy and sacramentals, catechesis must take into account the forms of piety and popular devotions among the faithful. The religious sense of the Christian people has always found expression in various forms of piety surrounding the Church's sacramental life, such as the veneration of relics, visits to sanctuaries, pilgrimages, processions, the stations of the cross, religious dances, the rosary, medals, etc.
Also I wasn't aware that the medieval ages went all the way back to the earliest days of the Church when relics were taken for St. Polycarp and has been a constant practice throughout the history of the Church including both testaments of the Bible.
�This is not a commercial operation,� said Father Marco Fibbi, spokesman for the Vicariate. Fragments would be sent to those who did not make a payment as well as to those who did.
The relics on offer are known as ex indumentis, meaning cloth that the late Pope touched. The Vicariate said it had been overwhelmed by requests for the relics, and donations to the beatification website had increased to 1,200 a day from 300 a day when it was launched four months after John Paul�s death. Thousands continue to file every day past the late Pope�s tomb in the crypt of St Peter�s Basilica.
You just got to love the ignorant media coverage of the Church. Also recently Jeff Israely once again did some ignorant coverage for Time in the assertion that Pope John Paul II requested euthanasia and he said that “Catholics are enjoined to pursue all means to prolong life.” It is quite obvious that one source religion reporters never use when covering the Church is the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
Known as 
In Britain, "scheme" is not a pejorative word. It just means plan, or program. The Economist, for instance, will frequently refer to a politician's "health insurance scheme" to refer to his health insurance PLAN, for instance.
Though, in some cases when dealing with politicians, "scheme" is the correct word, after all...
That's some pretty awful ignorance you've noted, though. I'm a dragon and even I know better than this.
:-( I guess the relics were all gone...
-J.
Does anyone know how to acquire one of these awesome relics?
God bless you.
I was raised Catholic but I don't think I ever understood relics until I visited St. Anthony's Chapel in Pittsburgh. The second largest collection of relics outside of the Vatican.
It was amazing. you feel the holiness of the place drift over you as you enter.
http://www.mostholynameofjesusparish15212.org/STanthonychapel.html
This talk about relics puts me in mind of the scheme to sell Beatle Bedding, ie, one-inch squares pieces of the sheets the Beatles slept on at a hotel. (It didn't pan out.) Puts me in mind of all those Splinters of the True Cross--just how many of those are there?
How many pieces of the true cross are there? Voltaire claimed there were enough to build a frigate.
He was (characteristically) wrong. Actual count in the West is more like... enough to build almost HALF a cross (historically, an object claimed as the True Cross was divided equally between the Church in the East and in the West).
Jeff, I couldn't help but chuckle at the mention of JPII's "beautification cause" - he certainly was a handsome man in his time, but I think further efforts toward his beautification are unnecessary.