Relics of St Francis Open For Public Viewing 800 Years After His Death

The relics (skeleton) of St Francis of Assisi, the founder of the Franciscan Order, have opened for public viewing for the first time, 800 years after his death.

Born in late 1182 in Assisi, Italy, to a wealthy cloth merchant, Francis (originally named Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone) renounced his wealth after a spiritual conversion and adopted a life of radical poverty, humility, and service, aiming to imitate the life of Jesus Christ.

The saint’s remains are enclosed in a nitrogen-filled plexiglass case with the Latin inscription ‘Corpus Sancti Francisci’ (The Body of St Francis). Usually hidden from view, the transparent case containing the relics since 1978 was brought out on February 21, from the metal coffer in which it is kept, inside his stone tomb in the crypt of the Basilica. The case itself is inside another bulletproof, anti-burglary glass case. Surveillance cameras will operate 24 hours a day to provide added protection for the remains.

Meanwhile, about 400,000 visitors worldwide have made reservations to see the remains. The occasion has seen the number of visitors to the Basilica around this time of year rise from 1000 per day on weekdays to 4000.

The Franciscans said they are expecting 15,000 visitors per day on weekdays and up to 19,000 on Saturdays and Sundays for the month-long display of the remains.

“From the very beginning, since the time of the catacombs, Christians have venerated the bones of martyrs, the relics of martyrs, and they have never really experienced it as something macabre.

“Christians still venerate today, in 2026, in the relics of a saint, the presence of the Holy Spirit,” said guardian of the Franciscan Order, Marco Moroni.

Experts said the extended display of St Francis’s remains should not affect their state of preservation.

Franciscan friar, Cesareo said the light will remain subdued in the Church, the Italian hill town’s Basilica of St Francis of Assisi, where the remains are displayed.

“The Basilica will not be lit up like a stadium. This is not a movie set,” he said.