00:00Music
00:17They took place on August 16 and 17, 2026 in Catania, Sicily, Italy.
00:24The festivities marked the 900th anniversary 1126-2026 of the return of the relics of Saint Agatha from Constantinople to Catania.
00:35Cardinal Pietro Paroulin officially represented the Pope as papal legate.
00:41During the solemn rites, he bowed before the skull of Saint Agatha, a Christian martyr of the 3rd century,
00:49before kissing it and placing the relic in its reliquary bust.
00:59The reaction and the colonic
01:01The video's dissemination on the internet and social media quickly triggered strong reactions.
01:08particularly in Africa and Ghana, a visual shock for some worshippers and internet users.
01:14To see a high-ranking religious official kiss and directly handle a human skull
01:19This has troubled some observers unfamiliar with theoretical Catholic tradition.
01:25creating confusion with practices of occultism, necromancy or fetishism.
01:36The debate on cultural double standards
01:39The debate on cultural double standards,
01:39Many internet users have pointed to a form of double standards.
01:44They emphasize the manipulation of human remains and ancestor worship
01:49which are often described as paganism or witchcraft
01:53when practiced within ancestral African traditions,
01:57while they are celebrated with pomp within the Catholic Church
02:01under the term veneration of rabbis.
02:09Given the scale of the discussions among ecclesiastical authorities,
02:13in particular the conference of Catholic bishops of Dana,
02:17who published pastoral statements
02:20in order to clarify the theological meaning of this gesture,
02:23veneration and adoration,
02:25the Church recalled the distinction between
02:28Adoration, crisis, reserved exclusively for God,
02:32the veneration, the sorrow, accorded to the saints and their relics
02:37as a sign of respect and honor
02:39for their life of faith and their martyrdom.
02:48To make a gesture, to pay homage to the remains of Saint Agatha
02:52does not constitute idolatry or lecromancy,
02:56but an act of Christian remembrance
02:58honoring the spiritual victory of a martyr
03:01according to the Catholic Church
03:03which cannot be demonstrated according to the Holy Scriptures.
03:06We leave you with the rest in pictures.
03:09It was Belle Grâce on behalf of Christ Plus.
03:39Subtitling by Agathe Company
04:08Subtitling by Agathe Company
04:34Subtitling by Agathe Company
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