Many have considered relics to be a curiosity of another era, a time before scientific and industrial revolutions had come to the fore and challenged the more antiquated conceptions of magic and mysticism. But in today’s world, one rife with a rigorously rationalist approach to life, the mysticism of relics still holds an appeal for a wide array of Christians, namely Catholics and Orthodox Christians.

A relic is an object, preferably a part of the body or clothes, which remains a memorial of a departed saint. According to Roman Catholic Canon Law, there are three classes of relic: first-class relics are items directly associated with the physical remains of a Saint, e.g. a bone or hair; second-class relics are items which came into physical contact with a saint, e.g. a piece of clothing or a rosary; and third-class relics are objects which were touched and blessed by a first or second-class relic.

Relics are associated with many other religious traditions, other than Christianity, most notably in Buddhism and Islam. But early Christianity’s development in a polytheistic society, created a particular position for relics within the initial manifestation of the faith, something which has carried on to today’s Catholic practices.

However, relics aren’t relegated to ancient seats of early Christianity, like Rome. Come a little closer to home and you might be surprised. New York, a city with a rich and diverse religious history, has a surprising number of relics, strewn at various places of Catholic worship in town. This slideshow focuses on four different places, important to local Catholics — three shrines dedicated to recently canonized saints, and a church: Transfiguration Church in Chinatown, the Shrine of Mother Seton in Battery Park, the shrine of Padre Pio in midtown and the shrine of Mother Cabrini in Fort Washington.

Pope Benedict XVI at this week's papal audience. | Photo by Andrea Palatnik.

The drumbeats at St. Peter’s Square could have been straight out of a football game. They added to our sense of anticipation: we had been waiting for over half an hour to see Pope Benedict XVI from up close at his weekly papal audience. This was the second time we were trying to catch a glimpse of the leader of the Catholic Church. The last time we tried doing so was on Sunday, when he appeared as a speck in the balcony at the Angelus prayer. It took powerful zoom lenses loaned to us by the generous equipment room staff to actually photograph  him. Unfortunately, many of us were stopped from filming him by the Vatican security…

We weren’t disappointed the second time round. As school children chanted “BENEDICTO!” in unison, the Pope came within a few feet of us. Apertures and shutter speeds were quickly adjusted, and we finally caught the Pope, a frail but imposing figure, being driven through the crowds wearing a benign smile. A greater surprise awaited us: Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism was given a special mention by Pope Benedict XVI himself in the list of institutions present at St. Peter’s Square.

The Pope’s address, which was said primarily in Italian, wasn’t easy for most of us to follow. Brandon Gates, a practicing Catholic said, “I felt honored to be in his presence as he is a great world figure, but I didn’t understand what he said.”

The afternoon took us to the Islamic Community Center of Rome, informally referred to as the Mosque of Rome, a majestic structure that synthesizes Islamic and Occidental styles. Though Islam is the second largest religion in Italy, it is yet to be recognized by the state. What struck Hoda Emam after a tour of the mosque was the fact that it was making an effort to promote inter-faith dialogue. “As we were entering, I saw a nun walking out of the mosque,” said Hoda Emam.

Ines Novacic ties a scarf around her head, in preparation to enter the Islamic Center of Rome. | Photo by Andrea Palatnik.

Interfaith dialogue turned out to be the flavor of the day and night. After our visit to the Mosque, we headed to the Istituto Tevere, a center dedicated to promoting inter-religious and inter-cultural dialogue in Rome. Mustafa Cenap Aydin, one of our guides on the Mosque tour, introduced us to the center he co-founded in 2007, as well as to two muslim scholars from Turkey, studying theology in Rome.

Later, the Religio group attended mass at the Lay Center at Foyer Unitas. An intimate evening service, consisting mainly of hymns and silent prayer was followed by dinner at the Lay Center. The class mingled with international lay students currently residing at the Center. The students’ origins varied from Bosnia to Indonesia to the Ivory Coast, and were all studying at the Pontifical Universities of Rome. We were all particularly excited to have Fr. Felix speak about Catholic-Muslim dialogue, as both our class and the lay students had been engaged in interreligious discourse throughout dinner.

We ended our rather exhaustive day with a group meeting with Marco Politi, an experienced religion writer from La Repubblica. Despite the exhaustion, most of the group decided to follow Politi’s advice and wander the streets of Rome as a final farewell to the city.

Wishes were made at the Trevi Fountain, but plans for an Anita Eckberg-La Dolce Vita reenactment were abandoned in the face of security cameras, replaced with more convivial vagabonding.

Arrivederci Roma!

A view from the Vatican Museum Courtyard. | Photo by Raya Jalabi.

ROME — “Screw journalism, I’m never leaving this place” — famous last words by an anonymous member of the Religio team, after spending three hours trawling the Vatican Museum. Anonymous wasn’t the only classmate left reeling in awe at the end of a fascinating guided tour of the museum. Dr. Elizabeth Lev, an extremely learned art historian who has been giving guided tours of the Vatican Museum for over 30 years, selected some highlights for our group to see, anticipating we’d get through the museum with enough time to see St. Peter’s Basilica and make it to our next stop in time. However, so engrossed was our group in the splendors of the Rafael rooms and the Sistine Chapel, that our inquisitive natures – which usually serve us well as journalists – found us spent for time, without ever making it to the Basilica. Perhaps our awestruck pace was due to the overwhelming throng gathered here on one of the most crowded days of the year, but we’d like to think it has everything to do with brushstrokes and Apollo. We all vowed to make it to Michelangelo’s last artistic undertaking before leaving Rome, or forever regret our failings as tourists.

The cross in the shrubbery at Sant'Egedio Courtyard. | Photo by Raya Jalabi

From the Vatican to the Communità di Sant’Egidio. We met Paolo Mancinelli and Claudio Mario Betti outside the Basilica di Santa Maria in Trastevere, a lively neighborhood of Rome. Mancinelli and Betti are both members of the Community of Sant’Egidio, a catholic lay organization dedicated to evangelization, ecumenism and solidarity with the poor and marginalized.

They led our group to the Community’s headquarters, around the corner from the church. We were led inside a beautiful courtyard, which we later found out was once the burial ground of over 400 years of nuns who had lived in the building the Community now occupies. An oasis of calm, the verdant courtyard was our first introduction to the Community’s ethos and history, recounted in Betti’s vivacious tone.

A founding member of the Community, Betti told stories of Sant’Egidio’s founding in 1968 as a student-run catholic group dedicated to servicing the local poor. While other students were rioting around the world, Community members were trying to figure out how to create an invigorated youth who was dedicated to serving the poor and those in need. Clearly, it worked as the group now numbers over 70,000 in 70 countries, according to Betti.

From Sant’Egidio, the ravenous group headed to Dar Poeta Pizzeria in Trastevere where we wolfed down various pizzas and nutella-filled calzones. After our brief respite, it was back to the Basilica di Santa Maria where we attended a Vespers service for members of the Sant’Egedio Community. Although it was a short service, lasting only about 25 minutes, the Vespers consisted mainly of hymns, sung by a choir of melodious voices.

Candles lit for the Vespers service at Santa Maria di Trastevere. | Photo by Raya Jalabi.

We got a chance to look around the church after the service. Santa Maria di Trastevere is one of the oldest churches in Rome, and might have been the first in which Catholic Mass was openly celebrated. Much of the church’s foundations date back to the 4^th century. Interestingly, the square in front of the church is one of the centers of Trastevere nightlife.

Speaking of nightlife, most of the group  headed to a local watering hole to indulge our tired bones by chatting and toasting to a day well spent. Salute!

Photo courtesy of The AP.

On a recent evening, 25 students sit on the floor of the Islamic Center at New York University to hear class in Quran taught by Dr. Ali Mermer.

The students, both men and women, are overwhelmingly young. Some have come alone, others with their families. A small group of children play behind the women, who sit separately from the men on one side of the room.

The Islamic Center is housed in the N.Y.U global center for academic and spiritual life, located at the corner of Thompson Street and Washington Square Park. The center is on the fourth floor of the building, which serves as both a masjid and a classroom for N.Y.U students and others interested in learning about Islam. Mermer is the Muslim Chaplain at Queens College and holds a PhD in Islamic Studies.

“Today we shall study chapter 7: Al Maoun, or the Small Kindness,” Mermer says as he opens his MacBook Air to locate today’s class notes. “Do you all know this verse?”

All nod in agreement, a testament to the verse’s renown.

“Let us first begin with a literal translation,” Mermer continues.

Students crack out their iPhones, tablets and laptops to pull up the verse and follow along with Mermer’s reading.

“Al Maoun

Have You seen the one who denies Deen?

For he is the one who drives away the orphan

And does not encourage the feeding of the poor

So woe to those who pray

But who are heedless of their prayer

Those who make show of their deeds

And withhold simple assistance.”

Mermer goes on to explain that “Deen” in this passage refers to debt. To further illustrate his point, he asks the room:

“Do you have any debts to pay?”

Mermer unfurls his long limbs elegantly, until he is standing in front of the blackboard, ready to write down students’ suggestions. He stands at slightly over six feet, a towering presence amidst the seated mass.

Some nervous laughter emanates from the far right corner of the room. There are a few timid nods, until someone exclaims that she has student debts that are piling up. The room erupts into laughter. But Mermer picks up on this and pushes conversation towards his a notion of societal debts, positing that communal living enjoins people into a social contract in which they are indebted to behave a certain way, to live a certain life, a good and moral one.

Although ultimately he explains that the verse refers to the debt that Muslims owe their Creator, he lets the conversation roam towards the students various responses to his initial question. He is engaging and excited by his students’ curiosity and ideas, asking them to elaborate and relate their thoughts to God and his teachings.

“I love challenging questions!”  Mermer says at one point. “If something doesn’t make sense, please please please challenge me! We shouldn’t make things complicated, unlike others who teach Quran.”

And indeed, one student does challenge him.

“You keep speaking of the good, and don’t mention the bad. And it’s bothering me,” says Zainab, an N.Y.U. graduate student. “There is good and bad and hell and heaven and faith and ignorance. Not just one or the other.”

With this challenge, Mermer’s eyes brighten, his smile widens and he goes off into an explanation of the complex theology surrounding Zainab’s query, one that overruns the hour designated to his class and leaves students hanging on his every word, waiting for more.

Trinna Leong & Anam Siddiq contributed reporting.

Outside view of the Community Worship Center Church of the Nazarene. | Photo by Raya Jalabi.

It was the morning of the Super Bowl, and that fact was not lost on the people who had gathered for the Sunday services at the Community Worship Center Church of the Nazarene on Bedford Avenue. The words “Go Giants!!!” in red letters streamed across the church’s digital display outside the building, even as jubilant songs of praise to God resounded from inside the church.

Provider, Defender

Master of the universe

You know me

You are an awesome wonder

O, what a wonder you are

O, you are an awesome wonder

Marlyn Clifford stood by the doors of the church, smiling and greeting everyone who walked in.

“Hello, welcome to our church!” she said, her eyes bright and perky behind gold-framed spectacles.

She was wearing a white suit, with a white and golden sash that identified her as an usher at the church. Her welcoming vibe was hard to ignore.

“No matter who comes through the door, and no matter what attitude they are in, I have to welcome them with a pleasant smile. And a pleasant attitude,” Clifford  said.

When asked why she does it, Clifford gave a look of surprise.

“Because of who I serve,” she answered, matter-of-factly.  “Because He is in me, He lives in me, I have to show His love to everyone who comes in here.”

Marlyn’s zeal was reflected in the rest of the congregation.

Dressed in their Sunday best, they sang along with the choir and their loud shouts of “Hallelujah” and “Praise God” were peppered throughout the sermon by the pastor of the church, the Rev. Dr. Elmer Gillett.

Gillett was cheerful and excited, his energy clearly visible as he wildly gesticulated at the pulpit in a crisp grey suit. “There is no God like Him,” he said, nodding and pointing to the sky. “We have a relationship with God, Jesus Christ. There is one God!”

“Hallelujah,” he said.

“Hallelujah!” the congregation repeated, clapping profusely.

The congregation numbers 200 to 250 on any given Sunday, said Ludwig Jones, a dapper gentleman and one of the church’s oldest members.

Ludwig, who turns 70 years old in September, has been active in the church since 1957 and posits himself as an informal historian of the church. He has held many roles within the church, but currently serves as the Sunday school teacher as well as the leader of the men’s chorus.

While the church has changed locations several times since its inception, it has maintained its black identity throughout the years, despite an influx of immigrants from the Caribbean, Asia and Latin America.

“It’s a more cosmopolitan community now,” Ludwig said.

The change in the racial and ethnic composition of the local community hasn’t gone unnoticed in the other churches on the block.

“This neighborhood used to be all African-American,” said Bishop Joseph B. Crooms of the Faith Worship Praise and Deliverance Tabernacle, located on the corner of Bedford and Putnam Avenues.

However, with gentrification rife in the neighborhood, there’s been a stream of young white professionals moving in, said Bishop Crooms.

“But, we don’t stress black church versus white church,” he added, as he welcomed Gregory Keith, the lone white congregant come to worship on that day.

Keith, a freelance photo assistant originally from Philadelphia, has been attending the Faith, Worship, Deliverance and Worship Tabernacle since 2010.

“What drew me in was the music,” he said. “And then what had me come back was the people here.”

“They just accepted me right away … And there was just this love and compassion towards one another without even knowing me,” Keith added. “They wanted to know who I was. Genuinely.”

But it is precisely this spirit of candor which typifies the Faith Worship Praise and Deliverance Tabernacle, said Bishop Crooms’ wife, Sheryl.

Ludwig Jones, sporting his Kente cloth bowtie, in homage to Black History Month. | Photo by Anam Siddiq

“We’re very open to everyone. We’re an outreach ministry,” she said, a thought echoed by her husband.

“It’s the responsibility of the Church to integrate the different communities,” he said.

With the influx of immigrants in mind, Ludwig has also been thinking of ways to integrate the new community residents in the Community Worship Center Church of the Nazarene.

“We’re seeing now the need to reach out to other communities,” Ludwig said. “They’ll have different needs that we’ll need to serve.”

He listed new outreach initiatives that are being thought of to attract and integrate immigrants to his church, including the creation of opportunities for employment and housing, issues of interest to the new residents.

Ludwig is personally in charge of one of the Church’s main outreach initiatives, the school supply drive, a project that was started eight years ago.

“We’ve given out over 300 bags of school supplies since we began,” said Jones.

This sense of wanting to do more for the community seems to be consistent with the different churches on Bedford Avenue.

“In the community, we do reach out to the homeless,” said the Rev. Naomi Harper of the Zion House of Prayer, located on Bedford and Jefferson Avenues.

“We feed them right in front of the church; sometimes we feed up to 500, sometimes up to 300,” she said. “We go to the shelter on Atlantic Avenue; we go to a lot of shelters with parents and children.”

Faith Worship Praise and Deliverance Tabernacle’s outreach initiatives have taken on a more interactive approach. Sheryl serves as its resident playwright and organizes community drama workshops. Each production usually has between 10 and  20 participants in each workshop, with ages varying from 15 to 30.

“We write about what happens in our community,” she said. “Family, poverty, rape, drug and alcohol addiction… We write stories that hit home.”

While Bishop Crooms believes that these plays help empower the community, he is emphatically rooted in his ministry.

“In times of trouble, I’m their pastor,” he said, a message he hoped to maintain despite the changing landscape of Brooklyn, the Borough of Churches.