The pure hypocrasy of the roman catholic church just illustrates how the teachings of Jesus Christ have been totally corrupted and manipulated by the 'Churches' and 'Religions' set up to teach them to the masses over the decades. They are more interested in indoctrinating their followers with the 'creed' of their particular 'brand' of Christianity, than the teachings of Jesus Christ. Spirituality and Christianity as it is packaged by the churches/Corporations who sell it today have nothing in common!

Kevin Sullivan, London,

Wonderful! Two comments and already it has sparked an RC - Protestant conflict. Is it any wonder so many people turn away from religion?

As for relics, if people want to believe that there is something special (rather than psychologically disturbing) about owning JP2's socks, then let them...

And Christians think of other religions as backward and something from the Middle Ages...hm...

David, London, England

Selling relics, in every sense of the Word.

Bill Bird, Wallasey, Wirral

I seriously question the religious credentials of the author of this argument at least in terms of the Catholic faith! To say simony was the sale of religious relics is a serious error. Simony was in fact the sale of offices within the Church, the sale of bishoprics and cardinal positions for example, named after Simon Magus who approached the Peter and offered money in exchange for miraculous powers. This I may add has been an offence carrying the penalty of excommunication since the early Church.

Russell, Leeds,

wow talk about idolatry

Rita, santo domingo, dominican republic

What next? JCBay?

RJ, Jersey,

You shall have no other gods before me.

Not even a scrap of the Pope's robe.

T, Norfolk, Virginia, U.S.A.

Although Marco Fibbi has said that this is not a commercial operation, it certainly is fraud. The SFO in the UK ought to do something about any rags coming over here.

Ian, London,

Relics are not a negative thing. I have some relics in my home and they help to deepen my faith when I pray and touch or look at them. Anything that increases a person's faith is a positive thing. Those who use them in supersitious ways or as good luck charms would be misusing them. All they do is give us a tangible way of seeking prayers from a saint. It is just like having a keepsake from a deceased family member that reminds us of them.

Anita, Boca Raton ,

This past July I celebrated my 64th Birthday. AT the age of 6 or 7 i came down with seizures and my father was given a First Class Relic of St. JUde to apply to me. Each night as I lay in bed my mother & father knelt by my bedside, laid the relic on my chest and said the novena prayers. Before Nine Days were up my seizures had ceased and they wer three a day. 9 years free. I have a Relic of the TRue Cross and have known of miracles to happen by it's application which doctors cannot explain. Relics are real and God can and does use anything He wants to obtain HIs result and increase peoples Faith.

Thomas Boudreau, Reading, USA/Mass

Well, that's sorted .. I wondered what to buy my friends for Christmas!!

alice, quimper, france

When I hold the ring that my father wore every day of his life I feel as if he is with me. I am not deluded. It has no magic or power but it evokes the reality of his love in a visceral way and I thank God for the gift of my father and for his love and God's grace. That is "the thing" about relics. Everything is God's grace and God's power. The Church allows and has respect for them as signs of God's love and grace in the material world.

Geraldine, Villanova, PA

Geraldine Zipf, Villanova, PA

Religion is a private matter between one self and God.

Luis, Paraná, Argentine

Smacks of the RC Church having badly speculated in the Stock Market again, as they did a few years ago.

James, Valencia, Valencia

George Carlin said it well: "Religious wars are nothing more than fights over who has the best imaginary friend." Irreverent? Yes. Sacrilegious? No. An affront to God? God probably smiled ruefully when he said that.

It is long past the time when the Church should revitalize its interrupted march into the 18th Century. Once there, it can then focus on the 19th. Once it arrives in the 21st, with priests free to marry, maybe my grandchildren or their progeny will eventually be able to serve mass without worrying what might happen to them in the sacristy.

It is time to shed trappings instituted by predecessors Martin Luther accurately identified as corrupt and ignorant.

Tom, Annandale, VA

Id like to see the RC Church sell all it jewel encrusted crosses, fine art and linens and use it to feed and clothe the poor.
If Jesus saw Catholicism today he'd be livid.
...then he'd likely be arrested for religious intolerance.

Phill Barlow, Wirral, England

The liberals have had their own way for too long, the RC Church should return to its traditions and bing back Simony and the sale of indulgences. It's a valuable source of revenue.

mark, Newcastle,

What is organised religion except for a money making exercise? The Vatican never appears to be short of funds itself.

Religion should be between one person and God. Everyone else are middlemen trying to get their cut.

Richard, London, England

"Only the RC church...Anything for a buck"? No way. Look at the shenanigans of various shady Protestant preachers.

Then, of course, there are the liberals who call Michael Moore's propaganda films "documentaries", pay to see them and buy the dvds. As long as Moore gets his money, he's happy.

Jim C., Chicago,

Only the RC church will stoop this low. Anything for a buck. Today, robe fragments. Tomorrow, indulgences. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Phillip, Scottsdale, AZ, USA

"Friends in high places", or "having the inside track" - since when did a believer need a lobby group in heaven to get better prayer results? The idea goes against the core of the teachings of Jesus, that the relationship between God and a person is as simple as that between loving parent and child. And if intercessory agents encouraging God to perform better on behalf on their personal protegees are a silly idea, still more are objects of power like relics. Shame on Christians for investing power in such toys, and shame on the Roman Catholic church for pandering to the superstitious.

Hippobabe, Johannesburg, South Africa