Weird Christian relics: From the 'Holy Foreskin' to the 'head of John the Baptist' and the hand of a butcher's wife - as pilgrims flock to see body of British-born influencer
With his canonisation imminent, pilgrims have been rushing to see the preserved body of British-born Carlo Acutis.
Acutis, who died aged 15 from leukaemia in 2006, is to become the Catholic Church's first millennial saint.
But his body, which lies in the Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome, is far from the only symbol of the Christian faith which has been preserved for posterity.
Strange Christian relics include the head of the executed Archbishop of Armagh, the hands of at least two Catholic matryrs and, perhaps most bizarrely of all, the foreskin of Christ himself.
Below, we delve into the story of each.
With his canonisation imminent, pilgrims have been rushing to see the preserved body of British-born Carlo Acutis in the Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome
The head of John the Baptist
In Christian theology, John the Baptist foretold the coming of Christ.
Most biblical scholars also agree that the preacher really did baptise Jesus, as recorded in the New Testament.
What is less verifiable is the claim that the head of John now lies in the Cathedral of Our Lady of Amiens in France.
The head first arrived at the church since 1206, when it was allegedly brought from Constantinople.
During the French Revolution, the head was among church property confiscated. It was returned to the church in the early 19th century.
However the faithful in Amiens are not the only Christians to claim to possess John the Baptist's head.
A church in Rome and a museum in Germany also possess heads which they attribute the same identity to.
The reputed head of John the Baptist in the Cathedral of Our Lady of Amiens in France
The Holy Foreskin
It is the one Christian relic that you might have thought is part of an April Fools joke.
But no, the so-called Holy Foreskin, or Holy Prepuce, is claimed, by some at least, to exist.
More than a dozen churches in Europe have claimed to have possessed the foreskin removed from Jesus Christ during his circumcision.
Emperor Charlemagne - the King of the Franks and 'Father of Europe' - is credited with 'resurrecting' Christ's foreskin during a supposed visit to the Holy Land in the late 8th century.
The so-called Holy Foreskin, or Holy Prepuce, is claimed, by some at least, to exist. Above: Friedrich Herlin's Circumcision of Christ scene from Twelve Apostles Altar, 1466, St. James’s Church, Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany
According to legend, he was praying in Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre - which is built over the reputed tomb of Christ - when an angel appeared.
The tale was recounted in journalist David Farley's 2009 book An Irreverent Curiosity: In Search of the Church's Strangest Relic in Italy's Oddest Town.
Farley wrote: 'Placed in front of him was something called the Holy Virtue. Before Charlemagne could look inside, a boy appeared on the right side of the altar.
'Claiming to be the Christ child, the boy said to Charlemagne, "Most noble prince, accept with veneration this small gift, which, it is sure, [comes] from my true flesh and my true blood."
'Charlemagne looked inside the package and found both a piece of the True Cross and the Holy Foreskin.'
Charlemagne is then said to have gifted the foreskin to Pope Leo III. The relic allegedly eventually ended up in the Italian village of Calcata.
Farley recounted how the relic became an 'embarrassment' to the Catholic Church, and so they passed a decree stating it could only be displayed once a year, on New Year's Day.
But in 1983, Calcuta's priest, Don Dario Mangoni, announced to his congregation that the foreskin had been stolen.
Farley spent a year living in Calcuta in search of the Holy Foreskin, but he had no luck in tracing its whereabouts.
The hand of a Catholic martyr
St Edmund Arrowsmith, a priest, was another Catholic martyr in the 17th century.
He was hanged, drawn and quartered in 1628 after being arrested for celebrating Mass.
After his death, one of his hands salvaged. It has now housed in a small cylinder in St Arrowsmith's Church in Ashton-In-Makerfield, near Wigan.
Arrowsmith was canonized as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales by Pope Paul VI in 1970.
St Edmund Arrowsmith was hanged, drawn and quartered in 1628 after being arrested for celebrating Mass. After his death, one of his hands salvaged. It has now housed in a small cylinder in St Arrowsmith's Church in Ashton-In-Makerfield, near Wigan
The hand of a Catholic butcher's wife
St Margaret Clitherow, a Catholic butcher's wife, met a very grisly end.
She was pressed to death in York in 1586 after being accused of allowing a Mass to be held in her house.
Britain was then ruled by Queen Elizabeth I, who was a Protestant.
St Margaret's hand was allegedly retrieved by a friend who had tried to salvage her body from a rubbish tip.
The hand is now in the possession of the Bar Convent in York.
St Margaret was canonized in 1970 by Pope Paul VI.
The hand of St Margaret Clitherow. She was pressed to death in York in 1586 after being accused of allowing a Mass to be held in her house
The head of an Irish archbishop
Oliver Plunkett, the unfortunate Archbishop of Armagh, was the last victim of the infamous Popish Plot; the invented Catholic conspiracy to assassinate King Charles II.
Plunkett, who was declared a saint in 1975, was falsely accused of being part of the conspiracy and therefore of committing treason.
After being arrested in December 1679, he was put on trial and found guilty of high treason.
He was hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn - London's centre of public executions for centuries - on July 1, 1981.
Oliver Plunkett was the last victim of the infamous Popish Plot, the invented Catholic conspiracy to assassinate King Charles II. His head has been in Saint Peter's Church in Drogheda in the east of Ireland since 1921
His remains were buried in two boxes but were exhumed not longer afterwards.
Plunkett's head eventually ended up in Ireland after being taken to Rome.
Most of his body was taken to Downside Abbey in England, but his head has been in Saint Peter's Church in Drogheda in the east of Ireland since 1921.
Plunkett's skull is housed in a specially made shrine. The churchman was beatified in 1920 and then canonised in 1975.
Pope John Paul II venerated Plunkett's head when he called in on his resting place during his visit to Ireland in 1979.
Virgin Mary's breast milk
Christians from Bethlehem will recount stories about the wonders of the Milk Grotto.
The Virgin Mary and Joseph are said to have sought refuge there with Baby Jesus during King Herod's Massacre of the Innocents.
According to legend, the stone in the grotto turned from reddish to chalky white when Mary spilled some of her breast milk.
The local faithful believe that having a drink made from what is called 'milk powder' - ground from the limestone - can help with health issues, especially infertility.
The powder can even be bought and then mixed at home.
Christians from Bethlehem will recount stories about the wonders of the Milk Grotto
A 16th century depiction of the Virgin Mary breastfeeding Baby Jesus
