Special Report: Selling the saints

Saints are sacred and treasured by millions, but now their holy history is being hawked online. With the click of the mouse, spirituality is up for sale!!

Brother Anthony Rice, Seminarian
"You're selling something that is religious, that is sacred, that is holy and these things can have really no price put on them."

Web sites are selling what appear to be religious relics, claiming to be the body parts of saints or some of their precious possessions.

For Roman Catholics, selling an authentic relic goes against canon law. And as far as selling human remains: that's against federal law!

7News had no problem finding these items online. Everything from bones to blood and from crosses to clothing, all said to have once belonged to a saint.

Take a look at what we bought on Ebay. At first glance it looks like a regular rosary. You look a little closer, and you'll find a relic attached to it. And it was sold to us by this church here in Cranston, Rhode Island.

The church calls itself Catholic, but it is not recognized by the Vatican.

The relic we bought for $20 claims to be a piece of clothing from a saint. And this wasn't the only relic the church had up for sale.

We wanted to ask the parish pastor why he was going against catholic laws, so we gave father Roger Durand a call.

Phil Lipof on phone:
"We talked to an expert about canon law and they said that's pretty much against canon law to sell a relic."

Father Durand argued there was nothing wrong with selling a relic.

Phil Lipof on the phone:
"Obviously don't think there's a problem."

I asked Father Durand what he was using the money for. He wouldn't answer. But on Ebay it says the money was part of a fundraiser for the church.

Ebay says when it comes to blood, bones or body parts they actively try to stop the sales.

But there's so many items like this for sale at any given time, it would take divine intervention to catch them all.

Andrew Walther, International Crusade for Holy Relics
"We've had lots of different people contact individual sellers and say, 'why are you doing this?'"

That's where Andrew Walther comes in. He is part of a group called the International Crusade for Holy Relics. Their mission: to stop these sales.

Walther says many sellers inherit the relic from a family member and don't even understand what they're selling.

Andrew Walther, International Crusade for Holy Relics
"Some of them have said, 'I'll basically do what I want.' Some of them have said, 'I'm really sorry. I didn't know any better.' It really runs the gament."

And Walther says with so many religious relics up for bid on the internet, it could take a miracle to stop the selling of saints.

Walther says there have been several cases were fake relics have been sold online. He says it's difficult to identify the difference between what's real and what's a scam.

Many sellers will provide very few details on the relic or write the description in Italian, so you don't know what you're buying.

Related link:
International Crusade for Holy Relics USA

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