2000 years later, a waste disposal company finds the bone fragment of the Pope in a bin.
Pope St Clement’s bones kept in a red and gold wax-sealed case have been found in a dustbin in London.
The Catholic Herald reports that the bone fragment of one of the ‘Apostolic Fathers’ — theologians who personally knew some of the Twelve Apostles, was discovered by a waste disposal company called Enviro Waste in 2017.
“You can imagine our amazement when we realized our clearance teams had found bone belonging to a Pope,” James Rubin, the company’s owner said. “It’s not something you expect to see, even in our line of work.”
Now, the company is asking for suggestions on where to keep the relic of the St. Clement who was Pope from AD 88 to 99.
In Rubin’s words, “We know this is an important piece of history and are keen to find the most appropriate place for its final resting place, which is why we’re asking for help from members of the public.”
Suggestions are to be submitted in an online form.
More on sacred relics
Reacting to this latest discovery, Georges Kazan, a researcher at the University of Turku in Finland, told MailOnline: “It could have been stolen, it could belong to someone and been accidentally thrown out.
“If it’s authentic, it’s not the kind of thing you throw away. It looks like a nice piece, with quite a decent sized bit of bone.”
Unfortunately, this is not the first time an important part of the church’s history has been mistreated or misplaced.
According to Canon law, it is “absolutely forbidden” to sell them, but this does not seem to have affected the terrible treatment of sacred relics.