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Questions / Mary and the saints

Why do Catholics venerate relics?

Church teaching

Answered on video by Bishop Robert Barron

Video: Bishop Barron on Catholic Relics, Bishop Robert Barron, published Oct 12, 2017. Checked 10 October 2026. Loads from YouTube (privacy-enhanced mode) only when you press play. Watch on YouTube

In short: Because bodies matter. Relics are part of the devotion around the sacraments, never a replacement for them. CCC 1674

The answer, in writing

Church teaching

The religious sense of Christians has always found expression in forms of piety around the sacraments, such as the veneration of relics. CCC 1674

These devotions extend the liturgical life of the Church but do not replace it. CCC 1675

Our words

Bodies matter to God; He took one. Honoring what remains of a saint is like keeping your grandmother’s rosary: love, not magic.

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Sources on this page

How we know · 2 Catechism paragraphs
  1. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 1674, 1675 (official text on vatican.va).

Stone & Incense restates Church teaching in plain words and cites every teaching claim. Our own wording is not an official Church text. Found a mistake? Report an errorCorrections.