St Francis relics go on public show for first time in Italy

Saint Francis of Assisi’s skeleton is going on public display from Sunday for the first time for the 800th anniversary of his death, drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors. Inside a nitrogen-filled plexiglass case with the Latin inscription “Corpus Sancti Francisci” (The Body of St Francis), the remains are being shown in the Italian hill town’s Basilica of St Francis of Assisi. St Francis, who died on October 3, 1226, founded the Franciscan order after renouncing his wealth and devoting his life to the poor.

Giulio Cesareo, director of communications for the Franciscan convent in Assisi said he hoped the display could be “a meaningful experience” for believers and non-believers alike. Cesareo, a Franciscan friar, said the “damaged” and “consumed” state of the bones showed that St Francis “gave himself completely” to his life’s work. His remains, which will be on display until March 22, were transferred to the basilica built in the saint’s honour in 1230.

But it was only in 1818, after excavations carried out in utmost secrecy, that his tomb was rediscovered. Apart from previous exhumations for inspection and scientific examination, the bones of Saint Francis have only been displayed once, in 1978, to a very limited public and for just one day. Usually hidden from view, the transparent case containing the relics since 1978 was brought out on Saturday from the metal coffer in which it is kept, inside his stone tomb in the crypt of the basilica. The case is itself inside another bullet-proof and anti-burglary glass case.