Relic at Cathedral

Intermountain Catholic

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IC photo/Laura Vallejo

A relic of the Holy Cross sheltered inside the Cathedral of the Madeleine and occassionally placed on display was a gift from Pope Pius X to Bishop Joseph S. Glass on the occasion of the re-dedication of the Cathedral of the Madeleine. “This relic is very special; not all cathedrals have one,” said Father Eleazar Silva, pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Salt Lake City. The Vatican has the original relic of the Holy Cross “and with formaldehyde the extracted kind of a wooden sheet and this particular relic [the one in the Cathedral of the Madeleine] has two little pieces of it that are places as a cross in the middle of the relic,” said Fr. Silva. The Cathedral of the Madeleine and the Cathedral in France are the only cathedrals in the world that are dedicated to Saint Mary Magdalene.