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00:10As with all Jewish boys, eight days after his birth, Jesus of Nazareth was circumcised.
00:22During the Middle Ages, the holy foreskin of Christ became one of the most important relics
00:27in Christendom, performing miracles and drawing pilgrims from across Europe.
00:35It ended up in the tiny Italian village of Calcutta Vecchia.
00:42Then, in 1983, international newspapers reported that it had been stolen, though many believe
00:52that the Vatican itself ordered its removal.
00:56I was raised Catholic, but I'm not a believer.
01:00Yet, once you hear the words, holy foreskin, you can never forget it.
01:07My name is David Farley, and as a journalist and historian, I simply had to find out the
01:13truth behind this extraordinary relic.
01:32This is an unbroken 4,000-year-old tradition.
01:36The first one to circumcise himself was Abraham, and we sing.
01:47For thousands of years, circumcision has been one of the defining physical characteristics
01:52of Judaism, and as a Jew, Jesus would have been circumcised.
02:17We have to bury the skin.
02:21God made it as part of perfection, so we have to bury this.
02:26So, for the 4,000 years of Judaic circumcision, the tradition has been to bury the foreskin.
02:32I've never heard of any other tradition.
02:34Jesus Christ was circumcised in a cave on his eighth day.
02:38His mother, Mary, had a virgin birth.
02:41Don't you think that she thought there was something special about this child?
02:43Maybe she should keep the foreskin around as a memento.
02:48We do say that all Jewish mothers think that their sons are special.
02:51You wouldn't know where it is.
02:53No, not now, no.
02:592,000 years ago, in a cave in Judea, a Jewish child is circumcised.
03:18According to the gospel of the infancy, his severed flesh is stored in preservative oil
03:23by an old Hebrew woman.
03:26Thus, the holy foreskin is kept safe in Jerusalem for the next 800 years.
03:37Could the holy foreskin really have been kept safe, as the apocryphal gospel of the infancy claims?
03:44I need to know more about this custom, if I have any chance of tracking it down.
03:50I'm on my way to meet Rabbi Shmuley, an expert on Jesus' Jewish origins.
03:56So, 2,000 years ago, what happened after a circumcision?
03:59What did they do with the foreskin?
04:00Well, I mean, often they bury it.
04:02Was there any reason why, when Jesus was circumcised on his eighth day, that they would keep his foreskin?
04:08Let's say one accepts and believes that God was born incarnate in a man,
04:13and ministering angels were there, and manger, and everything is accurate.
04:17I would assume that they would even preserve the grass upon which he was born.
04:21If God is born in human flesh, which is a belief that Judaism cannot possibly embrace,
04:28but for those who believe it, I would assume that you're gathering every relic you can,
04:31and the foreskin would probably be one of them.
04:34And do you have any idea why someone would steal it?
04:37Well, I mean, when me and my buddies took it, we didn't think that we would ever really get caught.
04:42Our search is over.
04:43It's actually in the living room now, if you guys want to go and get it, finally.
04:46Thank God.
04:47No, obviously, I have no idea, I guess because it's very valuable now.
04:50For those who believe, it's quite a piece of skin.
04:59It's just bizarre that such a relic could exist,
05:02and even more bizarre that nobody knows about it.
05:08In the Middle Ages, the holy foreskin was a superstar relic,
05:11and the most celebrated artist throughout history painted the scene of Christ's circumcision.
05:22However, in the era of modern science,
05:25the church became increasingly uncomfortable with this relic.
05:29And in 1900, Pope Leo XIII issued a decree
05:32threatening anyone who speaks or writes about the holy foreskin
05:36with excommunication.
05:39Not only was it a reminder of Christ's sexuality,
05:42but if put under a microscope,
05:44it could theoretically reveal the DNA of God.
05:56Dr. David Zhang is an expert on forensic DNA
05:59and has successfully analyzed ancient human tissue.
06:11I'm searching for a very special fragment of flesh,
06:14the foreskin of Jesus.
06:15Would it be possible for this piece of flesh to exist for 2,000 years?
06:19Yes.
06:20If the tissue was preserved well in oil,
06:24we can successfully extract the DNA and do a further analysis.
06:28The relic disappeared mysteriously 30 years ago.
06:32And many people think that the Vatican itself is responsible for this disappearance.
06:37Why do you think they would take it back?
06:39This is not an area for my expertise,
06:42but I can say that during that period of time,
06:44in the early 1980s,
06:47a lot of technology has been developed.
06:50Allow us to get the DNA from these tissues
06:53and sequence them
06:54and get information out of that.
06:56And assuming that this is the real flesh of Christ,
06:59what could you tell from analyzing it?
07:02Well, from this piece of tissue,
07:04we can put together what this person looks like,
07:07the height of this person,
07:09the color of the hair,
07:10color of the eye,
07:11the color of the skin.
07:13Would it be possible if we had this to clone Jesus?
07:17Yes, theoretically, it's definitely possible
07:19because if we get the DNA,
07:21we can put all the pieces of DNA together
07:23and then eventually clone this person.
07:31Is it possible that the church was so concerned about scientific testing
07:35and even the extraordinary idea of cloning Jesus Christ
07:38that it conspired to make the foreskin disappear?
07:42This is a mystery that goes back 2,000 years.
07:46But most importantly,
07:47where is the holy foreskin now?
07:52First Stop is a former relic dealer
07:54who has 20 years of experience
07:56in tracking down lost relics,
07:58including relics of Christ.
08:00If anyone knows how to find a missing foreskin,
08:03it's her.
08:04What does one pay these days
08:06for a bone fragment of a saint
08:08or a strand of hair from some holy person?
08:11I've had actually Mary's hair.
08:13That being said,
08:15starting at around $100
08:16and going up to several thousands.
08:19And any relics from the holy family?
08:22I have had relics of Christ's swaddling clothes.
08:27I have had relics of the cradle.
08:32The only bodily relic of Christ that could exist,
08:35in theory, would be his foreskin.
08:37And has that ever come through your store?
08:40Anyone peddling in Jesus' foreskin?
08:43I haven't.
08:44I haven't.
08:46I suspect that were it to be available,
08:50there would, of course, be interest.
08:52I think you'd be talking about something
08:54that's so extraordinary.
08:56And we would really,
09:01evaluation placed upon belief and faith.
09:05So, if I said,
09:07find me the holy foreskin,
09:08is there some underground network
09:10you could tap into
09:11that could have a lead on Jesus' foreskin?
09:14I hate to burst your bubble,
09:15but the answer is probably not.
09:30For over a thousand years,
09:32relics attracted the faithful,
09:33who believed they could work miracles.
09:36Relics and priests
09:38were the medicine and doctors
09:39of the Middle Ages.
09:41Put the relic to your chest.
09:44I just close your eyes.
09:46Even today,
09:47millions still flock
09:48to see the Shroud of Turin
09:49or the Holy Blood of Bruges.
09:53Tom Trotta,
09:54a faith healer from Long Island,
09:56still uses relics
09:57as part of his ritual treatment.
10:00Slowly open your eyes.
10:07You have this room of relics here.
10:09How many relics do you have
10:10in your collection?
10:12Probably close to 2,500.
10:14Wow.
10:14They serve different purposes.
10:16St. Peregrine is for cancer.
10:19St. Lucy is for the eyes.
10:22St. Bernard is for the brain.
10:25There's different saints
10:26for different parts.
10:28You use these relics
10:29as a conduit for healing people
10:32or for channeling things, correct?
10:33For channeling.
10:34Yes.
10:34There's this relic
10:35that I was looking for.
10:37It's the holy foreskin.
10:39What kind of power
10:40do you think that relic would have?
10:42It's not a power.
10:43It's the collective consciousness
10:45of the people
10:46that put their faith
10:48in this particular
10:50inanimate object
10:52that releases this power
10:54and the expectation of something happening.
10:58And is there a way for you
10:59to use these phenomenal abilities
11:01that you have
11:01to find out where it is?
11:03I would need to focus on that.
11:05Can you?
11:07It was taken out of Italy.
11:09It was taken out of the country.
11:12But it will be found.
11:22The earliest mention
11:23of the holy foreskin
11:24that I could find
11:26is from a Vatican inventory
11:27in the 11th century
11:30stating that it was a gift
11:31from the emperor Charlemagne.
11:34All the stories
11:35of the holy foreskin
11:36seem to go back
11:37to this great emperor
11:38who united Europe
11:39for the first time
11:40since the Romans.
11:43But why is Charlemagne
11:45so important?
11:46And what's his connection
11:47with the holy foreskin?
11:54In the year 799 A.D.,
11:57Charlemagne,
11:58the grand Frankish king,
11:59conqueror of a vast empire,
12:02embarks on a humble pilgrimage
12:03to the church
12:04of the holy sepulchre
12:05in old Jerusalem.
12:09Earnestly praying
12:10before the tomb of the Christ,
12:12the hand of the Lord himself
12:13descends upon the pilgrim king.
12:18When he recovers his senses,
12:20he notices a cross-shaped box
12:23set upon the altar.
12:25Picking up the box,
12:27the king sees a child
12:28standing to his right.
12:31Most noble prince,
12:33accept with veneration
12:34this small gift,
12:36which it is sure
12:37comes from my true flesh
12:39and my true blood.
12:44That same year,
12:46Pope Leo III
12:47flees to the court
12:48of Charlemagne.
12:50With his enemies
12:51close at his heels,
12:52he begs the great king
12:53for his protection.
12:56Thus,
12:57on Christmas Day,
12:57800 A.D.,
12:59Charlemagne enters Rome
13:00as a conquering hero.
13:05He hands the cross
13:06containing the holy foreskin
13:08to the Pope.
13:09And with that,
13:10the Pope crowns him
13:11as Holy Roman Emperor,
13:13the new Caesar.
13:22By the 20th century,
13:24the church had grown embarrassed
13:25by the holy foreskin.
13:27And in an era of science
13:29and rationality,
13:30some even began to question
13:32its authenticity.
13:36Suddenly,
13:37evidence,
13:38and not miracles,
13:39were becoming
13:39the measure of truth.
13:47Could this have been why
13:48they were so keen
13:49to silence
13:50the holy foreskin?
14:01Wow.
14:03This is amazing.
14:09Father Mark Lindeyer
14:10makes relics
14:11for the Jesuit order
14:12of the Catholic Church.
14:14Once a person
14:15is made a saint,
14:16their body is exhumed,
14:17carved up into little pieces,
14:19and center on the world
14:20as relics.
14:22There are Christ relics
14:24that exist
14:25that are acceptable,
14:26and then there is
14:26this relic,
14:27the holy foreskin,
14:28that was a bit controversial,
14:30and it's suddenly gone,
14:33and nobody really
14:33seemed to want
14:34to talk about it.
14:35And I'm wondering,
14:36what's the difference then?
14:37So much suspicion
14:39has been created
14:40around each
14:42and every relic
14:43of Jesus Christ
14:44that I think
14:46this presumed relic
14:47of his foreskin
14:49is just as suspect
14:51as relics
14:52of the holy cross,
14:53of his clothing,
14:55of whatever.
14:57Does the church
14:57ever simply retire
14:59a relic
14:59because they don't know
15:02of its authenticity
15:03or its provenance?
15:04They may,
15:05they may not.
15:06I don't know.
15:07You may be causing
15:08more, well,
15:10media attention
15:11by retiring it
15:13than just letting it
15:14sit where it is.
15:15Relics in themselves
15:16do not have any power.
15:18Oh, I see.
15:18Relic itself
15:19is only a means,
15:20an aid,
15:21to invoke
15:23God's power.
15:25I see.
15:25But I mean...
15:26I mean,
15:26it's not magic.
15:27Is there somewhere
15:28in Rome
15:29one can go
15:30to be around
15:31more relics?
15:33Like,
15:33where would I go
15:34if I wanted to?
15:35I think it's difficult
15:35to go to somewhere
15:36in Rome
15:36where you're not
15:37around relics.
15:38The largest
15:39public collection
15:40would be
15:41the Sanctum,
15:42Sancturum.
15:55For centuries,
15:56the Sancta Sanctorum,
15:57or Holy of Holies,
15:59was the most sacred
16:00place in the Christian world.
16:05The most important
16:06relics in the Catholic
16:07Church were kept here
16:09under lock and key.
16:19But could the Holy Foreskin
16:21have been amongst them?
16:47Here we are.
17:11How many relics were in here at one time?
17:18Many relics were lost during the Sacco di Roma in 1527.
17:27Here they were able to enter the Lanzagenecchi,
17:30and they were able to open those two windows that contained relics,
17:37and there they brought them all.
17:39And was the holy foreskin here?
17:42It was preserved in the windows, and was stolen by Lanzagenecchi in 1527,
17:49and was returned, years later, in a village near Rome.
17:57In the year of our Lord 1527,
18:00the Eternal City is brutally sacked by Charles V.
18:0414,000 Lutheran German mercenaries put the city to the sword and flame.
18:11Whilst Rome is ravaged with fire, rape, looting, disease and death,
18:16soldiers scour the Holy of Holies in St John Lateran, looking for plunder.
18:25One of the mercenaries chances upon the cross containing the holy foreskin,
18:30some say the most valuable relic in Christendom.
18:37Fleeing the city, he hurries north up the Via Cassia.
18:42But as fate would have it, he is captured and imprisoned in a cave
18:46at the entrance to the village of Calcatavecchia, where he stashes the relic.
18:54Thirty years later, the local priest opens up the cave.
18:58There, under a pile of hay and manure, the priest finds a mysterious container.
19:06A sublime perfume of the Holy Sanctity engulfs the entire village.
19:12The Holy Foreskin has been found.
19:15The Holy of Holies, the city of Manitia.
19:25The Holy of Holies, the city of Manitia.
19:28Ten weeks to come, the city of Manitia.
19:38The 12th century, the village of Manitia.
19:38The Three of the Holy of Holies, the devil of the Holy of Holies.
19:41In 2007, escaping, he was already taken prisoner here near Calcata and imprisoned in a cave.
19:52But I believe that maybe it wasn't like that.
19:57It was brought to Calcata by someone who wanted to value Calcata through that prepuzio.
20:03But can I believe all those stories without an eyewitness?
20:07I need proof.
20:11The foreskin was the most important thing about Calcata.
20:16That's why pilgrims came to Calcata.
20:19That's how they had any sort of economy.
20:21They had certain days where they would go in procession around the village and everybody would be behind it.
20:29Il primo gennaio e c'era una festa che era grandissima.
20:36Il sentimento per Calcata era una cosa bellissima.
20:41Proprio e approfondata da tutti i Calcatesi.
20:45Mi dicevano, si congratulavano.
20:49C'è Calcata, siete ricchi.
20:51Ma va, già abbiamo una ira.
20:53Lavoriamo e tiriamo avanti.
20:56No, no, siete ricchi per la presenza del secolo Crepuzio.
21:04I calcata, i calcatesi, i reali calcata, che c'era la presenza.
21:09Di calcata, i calcata, i calcata i calcati.
21:33Because the priest did not approach anyone, he held it in his arms, in his hand, and did his procession.
21:44Then, when he arrived in the church, he put it back.
21:49The religion was preserved by the priest in a basket of shoes on his armadillo.
21:56I do remember hearing some of the people who lived in Calcaba saying that it was the foreskin of Jesus
22:02Christ in a church and that it looked like a little piece of hash.
22:07Or a booger.
22:08A booger? Did you actually see the relic?
22:12Not close, because it was something that could not be close.
22:18There were no pictures or things like that.
22:23There was already a kind of ban.
22:27It was considered a sort of paganism.
22:32Because the church already began to consider this tradition very fastidious.
22:39Hello.
22:39Hello.
22:41Hi.
22:42Did you ever see it?
22:43I saw it once.
22:45Oh, yeah?
22:45They took it around in the procession, the first of the year, the first of January.
22:51I saw how the relic was, but never saw it inside.
22:55So it was a whole game of images, but what you believe becomes true.
23:05It was so beautiful and inside it was, as you thought,
23:12it was part of the Christmas tree.
23:33This beautiful church was built to house the holy foreskin,
23:36and for centuries it remained right here, where this picture of Jesus now sits.
23:43no less than eight popes endorsed the relic granting plenary indulgences to pilgrims who
23:50came to venerate it and the town of calcutta vecchia grew in importance as a result and here
23:57carved in stone pope benedict the 13th grants an eternal pardon for all sin no matter how terrible
24:05for anyone who came to venerate the holy foreskin
24:22one day unexpectedly he called me and told me if you want to show you the reliquary
24:30I went home I took my photographs and we went to the house of Don Dario
24:37comunque arrivati a casa di Don Dario ha aperto un armadio ha tirato fuori una
24:43scatola di scarpe e a botte in un panno c'era questa famosa reliquia
24:53bellissima luminosa
24:57ha fatto un grosso effetto
25:03la corona fatta a coperchio alla coppa
25:11alzandola c'è un cristallo trasparente dove attraverso il quale si vede una piccola particella di circa un cristallo trasparente
25:24un centimetro diciamo di diametro
25:28che sarebbe il pregucia
25:34these photos are incredible taken just a few months before the relic vanished from calcutta
25:40the only proof that it ever existed
25:45could that dark shape really be the holy foreskin
25:53so why do you think Don Dario chose to show you the relic and the reliquary at this time
25:58forse per qualche sua strana premonizione che potrebbe sarebbe potuto scomparire
26:09allegedly under orders from the Vatican Don Dario removes the relic from the church
26:15and he hides it away in a shoebox in the wardrobe of his house
26:20then one day Don Dario agrees to show the foreskin to a mysterious foreign couple dressed in black
26:31the next day the priest drives to Rome on official business
26:36upon his return he finds the window open at his house ransacked
26:42frantically searching he finds all his valuables untouched
26:46then with a feeling of dread he goes to the wardrobe
26:51to his horror he finds the shoebox empty
26:57the holy foreskin the only piece of the flesh of Christ on earth
27:03has been stolen
27:08Don Dario said that it has been stolen
27:13but we don't believe this story and a lot of people they say the Vatican took it back
27:19I heard also that Don Dario had sold it but we don't know these are all rumors
27:24Have you ever asked him?
27:26Yeah yeah we asked him
27:28Yeah yeah but he gets really
27:29No no no no I don't want to hear it
27:31No no no you can't talk about it
27:33C'era ancora molto timore della chiesa e poi c'era anche una scomunica su chi avesse parlato della reliquia
27:46allora tutti tacquero però nel 1984 me ne uscii con la storia della reliquia e in seguito a questo fu
27:58ripreso da parecchi giornali questa storia e divenne di pubblico dominio
28:02con grande disappunto chiaramente della chiesa
28:08What was the feeling when you and the people of Calcutta learned that the relic had disappeared?
28:14E ci è stato un grande rammarico contro il prete che non l'ha saputo che non l'ha saputo
28:21costruire
28:22Protected from who?
28:24Da lui stesso dal prete doveva essere protetta la santa reliquia
28:31La storia ufficiale invece ricalca un po' quello che è stato scritto su parecchi giornali
28:37è che questa reliquia fu rubata da certi satanisti che volevano servirsene per fare delle messe nere o non si
28:48sa quali altri riti strani
28:51però sinceramente insomma non credo che questa teoria sia stata accettata né dai calcadesi né dalle persone con un po'
29:00di sale in zucca
29:05Conflicting accounts seem to feed the insatiable curiosity of the villagers here
29:09Could the foreskin have been stolen by satanists?
29:12Or sold by the priest Dandario?
29:15And could the Vatican itself really have been involved?
29:20Sembra che il prete abbia detto che è stato rubato
29:23Per lo meno fino a un po' di tempo fa nessun giornalista era riuscito a vedere la denuncia del furto
29:33Io amico del vescovo Vigile Castellana Massimiliano Roberto
29:39E lui mi disse a me finché io esisto la rivicarcata non verrà mai tolta
29:48Morto lui la rivicarcata è sparita
29:51Non so come è sparita però è sparita
29:54True or false the Vatican took the holy foreskin
29:59Il Vaticano no
30:01Then who?
30:03Chi ascoltava il Vaticano
30:05There's plenty of reason to believe and understand that the Vatican could have been very embarrassed by the foreskin's presence
30:15in Calcata in the 20th century
30:18Quando il Vaticano impone una cosa, un prete che può fare? Nulla
30:26The mystery would be why doesn't the Vatican admit it?
30:29If the Vatican did take it, you know, why not just say so? What are they hiding?
30:48Pronto?
30:50Buonasera, posso parlare con Don Dario?
30:53Si, sono io
30:54Ah, Don Dario, buonasera, sono Davide
30:58E vorrei fare alcune domande a Santo Perbuzio
31:03Perchè, perchè
31:06Don Dario would only confirm that according to him, the holy foreskin had been stolen
31:12He declined to comment further
31:14Uh-huh, uh-huh
31:21He hung up
31:32In this investigation, all roads seem to lead to Rome
31:44For centuries, the Vatican kept the holy foreskin in the Sancta Sanctorum
31:49The treasure trove of the Pope himself
31:54Then, at some point, attitudes changed
31:57And the church banished the foreskin to the footnotes of history
32:02Most of the Calcutta villagers seem pretty convinced that the Vatican had a hand in the mysterious disappearance of their
32:09holy foreskin in 1983
32:23Monsignor Paolo Benedict is the keeper of the Pope's relic collection
32:28And one of the highest authorities on relics in the Vatican
32:34I spent some time in this village, Calcutta
32:36And they had a very unusual relic there, the holy foreskin
32:40Have you heard of this?
32:42No, no, I don't know
32:44It's difficult to say that there is something left out
32:49It's difficult
32:52It's palpable, right?
32:54If people were like this
32:58It's difficult
32:59It's difficult
33:01It's not my task
33:02But it's the doctrine of faith
33:04And the other churches of the church
33:06That should intervene
33:09Does the church ever retire relics?
33:12Does the church ever retire relics?
33:17Does the church ever retire relics?
33:23The people in this village think that the Vatican stole the relic
33:36Or took it back?
33:38Do you
33:39Do you think that's possible?
33:45Why would the Vatican want the relic?
33:48No, but I don't think
33:49The church, also the local church
33:51The Vatican doesn't mean that it's the church on the Vatican
33:55But the local church can decide the bishop
34:00That's why
34:01That's why
34:02When it's said that it's not true
34:06I, as a believer, have to think a bit about things
34:11We can't put things that don't correspond
34:15If they're out of rationality
34:19Can you find out the
34:21The answer to this mystery
34:23If
34:23Where is the relic?
34:25If
34:26If it's here
34:27Qua non c'è
34:29Sicuramente
34:31Abbiamo elenco di tutte le reliquie
34:33Ma questo non c'è sicuramente
34:37Conosco bene ciò che c'è qua ma
34:39No, sicuramente no
34:46I've spent years searching for the holy foreskin
34:49But I've come to a dead end
34:51The whole village seems to believe that the Vatican took their precious relic
34:56But Monsignor Benedict dismisses its authenticity
34:59And simply denies any Vatican involvement
35:05For years the Catholic Church made a big deal out of this relic
35:09Saying come, worship, be forgiven
35:12And now they say it might not be real
35:16Am I just chasing shadows and fantasy?
35:50The Order of the Passionists are the custodians of the Sanctus Sanctorum
35:54Where the holy foreskin was definitely once kept
35:57They also have a prestigious collection of relics
36:01Father Zubiani is the man in charge of relics for the Order
36:05When I was in Calcazza
36:07They had this unusual relic
36:09The holy foreskin
36:10Do you think that this is possible?
36:12That it was just retired?
36:14Sì, io penso che le autorità ecclesiastiche
36:19Abbiano chiesto di ritirare appunto queste reliquie e dubbie
36:23When a relic is taken away or retired
36:26Is there like a depository for these relics?
36:30Where is it at?
36:30Ma se non è sicura, se non è certa
36:33In genere viene distrutta attraverso il fuoco
36:36Really?
36:38Wow
36:39This relic, where does it, does it have any
36:42Does it have a place in the theology of the current church?
36:47Non è autentica
36:48Non è autentica
36:49Insomma di Cristo, abbiamo già Gesù Cristo nell'Eucaristia
36:52Più di quello, c'è il suo vero corpo lì
36:55Non abbiamo bisogno di parti del suo corpo molto molto dubbie
36:59How do you authenticate a relic?
37:02E tutto questo comunque sempre con il permesso del vescovo diocesano
37:07Il quale riceve un assenso da parte della Santa Sede
37:10Perché comunque è la chiesa, non io
37:13L'ultima garante dell'autenticità di certe reliquie
37:18So do you know where I might find the holy foreskin?
37:22In Calcata non esiste più nulla
37:27Forse sono finite queste reliquie a Conk
37:30Ma non so se siano le stesse
37:32Vale la pena di andare a visitarlo
37:34And where is Conk?
37:37In Calcata
37:37In Calcata
38:04Does my journey end here?
38:10Still, if there's even the slightest chance that there's something in France
38:14I've got to check it out
38:17Conk was one of 16 towns that originally claimed to have a holy foreskin
38:22But I thought they had all disappeared
38:24Is it possible that one survived?
38:30800 A.D. Charlemagne becomes Holy Roman Emperor
38:34And supposedly hands over the holy foreskin to the Pope
38:40Never fully trusting the Vatican
38:42He sends the real foreskin deep into the heartland of his kingdom
38:47To the ruins of an abbey in what is now the village of Conk
38:52In the years after, thanks to its famous relics
38:55The monastery attracts thousands of pilgrims and grows rich
39:04And thus it came to pass that the foreskin of Christ
39:08The one true piece of his flesh
39:11Remains to this day almost forgotten
39:13In the sleepy hillside town of Conk
39:43What document are we looking at here?
39:46C'est un document extrêmement intéressant
39:49C'est un catalogue des reliques de Conk
39:54Dressées vraisemblablement au début du 18ème siècle
39:58Is the holy foreskin on this compendium?
40:02Oui, la relique du Prépuce du Christ est signalée sur la première ligne
40:08Décirconcisionnée, donc la relique du Saint Prépuce
40:11And is there a particular reason why it is first?
40:15Eh bien, parce que la relique du Christ, évidemment, supplante toutes les autres
40:21Et puis sans doute aussi parce qu'elle a été la première donnée au sanctuaire de Conk
40:29So do you think that this is the foreskin that Charlemagne received from Jerusalem?
40:32Alors nous savons par les premiers documents écrits, conservés à Conk
40:40Que sinon l'empereur Charlemagne, tout au moins ses descendants, Louis le Pieux et Pépin d'Aquitaine
40:48Qui auraient amené à Conk les reliques donc du Prépuce du Christ
40:57True or false?
41:00The holy foreskin that you have here is the real flesh of Christ
41:04Je n'en sais strictement rien
41:38So here you are in front of the relique
41:40And inside is supposed to be the holy foreskin
41:45Really? Wow, this is amazing
41:48Can we crack it open?
41:51Fortunately, no
41:52How do we know it's in there?
41:54How do we know it's in there?
41:54When there was a restoration in 1954
41:57All the reliques of all the reliques were checked
42:00So there is in fact a relique inside
42:02And how do we know it's the real foreskin of Jesus?
42:08We just have to believe
42:10The Lord, our gratitude for God
42:21He says to God
42:24We just have to believe
42:28My heart is in there
42:32The Holy foreskin
42:44If you believe the history here,
42:47this magnificent abbey was home to the foreskin of Christ
42:50for over a thousand years.
42:54If you believe Pope Benedict XIII,
42:56this was an apocryphal foreskin,
42:59and the real one was taken to Calcutta.
43:04On this journey, someone once said,
43:07to me, well, this story has to be true
43:10because it's been repeated so many times.
43:13There's been so many books, so many documents,
43:16so it has to be true, right?
43:21Well, no, absolutely not.
43:25If you repeat a story enough times,
43:28it becomes history, and history becomes religion.
43:33This is the closest we're ever going to get
43:35to the holy foreskin.
43:38In the end, there will always be a mystery,
43:41and in that mystery,
43:43some will find superstition,
43:46while others find faith.
43:49It's as church doctrine puts it,
43:52as it is presented,
43:54so it is piously believed.
43:55so it is piously believed.
43:56it doesn't have to be dead,
43:56and the truth is being lost.
43:57And who's solving right now
43:58It doesn't know,
43:58claim to expect it to behoven
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