By Artur Rosman, Patheos
Catholic “materialism” causes strange conundrums and very interesting GoFundMe campaigns.
For example, the Catholic cult of the saints sometimes gives rise to causes such as this one…
The Saint Kateri Tekakwitha Conservation Center’s GoFundMe campaign looks legitimate and earnest:
Help us “Bring Saint Kateri Home”! An extremely rare Saint Kateri reliquary has been found at a liquidation sale! We need your help to take this precious relic off the market forever!
This reliquary is going back on the profane market (i.e., secular as compared with the sacred or divine) unless YOU help stop it. Time is running out.
The Saint Kateri Tekakwitha Conservation Center needs your help to rescue this Saint Kateri Tekakwitha reliquary, containing a large 1st class relic of our beloved Saint Kateri. The reliquary comes with supporting documentation. The names, dates, and other information on the documents are historically accurate.
I’m not sure what the complexities involved in such exchanges of relic might be. I suspect I will find out in the combox. This is something I’d like to learn more about since the physical aspect of Catholicism is so fascinating to me.
The Saint Kateri Tekakwitha Conservation Center is a non-profit Catholic faith-based conservation organization that promotes authentic Catholic teaching on ecology, conserves nature, and protects life. Promoting the veneration of Saint Kateri, a patron saint of ecology, is an important part of their mission.
Consider helping them after discerning whether this is a worthy cause. They are presently about 1/3 of the way to their goal.
Update from the Saint Kateri Conservation Center (2020): We are happy to report that the reliquary was rescued in 2016 after a successful GoFundMe campaign. Thank you and blessings to all our donors! The Center is seeking to establish a fitting long-term home for the reliquary, potentially including a chapel and Catholic ecology center dedicated to Saint Kateri.