THE EIGHT CIRCLE OF HELL

Thomas J. Serafin

International Crusade for Holy Relics

Growing up the only son of a Polish butcher in Buffalo, New York I learned one very simple rule of life, one that I still subscribe to. Stay out of the grey area.

When I was young I always had to get permission or pre-approval from my Dad before I did something. An example; if we were visiting friends or relatives and all the kids were going to do something I would look at my Dad for approval or disapproval, this was signified by the raising or lowering of his glasses. Now some of you readers might think, wow what an overbearing jerk! Well not so. When I questioned why, he always seemed to have a good reason, i.e.: behavior, manners, getting close to dinner time.

Now here’s the great part of participating with my Dad. There was the wrong way (black), the right way (white) and the in between area (grey). I learned early in life if you avoid the grey area you avoid troubles and punishment.

In my adult years I found through the writings of St. Alphonsus “last great Doctor of the Church”, that this method was the basis of the life and theology for the founder of the Redemptorists. When it comes to religion, stay out of the grey area.

Where you might ask is all this leading to? For almost ten years I have waged a war against the sacrilegious sale (simony) of first class relics on the internet. There are as many excuses and discombobulated diatribes pontificating on the right to sell as there are buyers and sellers of these sacred treasures.

Recently I was alerted to a posting on eBay.com. In a posting by Michael Hesemann he personally stated some rather erroneous and dubious statements on the simonistic sale of relics on the internet.

Hesemann:

“I personally consulted a Doctor of the Canon Law who advised the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith (Holy Office), since there is some misunderstanding re. § 1190 of the CIC: "It is forbidden to sell Holy Relics." This, according to all experts on the Canon Law he asked, neither forbids the sale of reliquaries which already are on the profane market, nor does it forbid anyone to buy a reliquary with the intention to protect the relic inside from any further profanization, which actually would be nothing but a good deed.”

Serafin:

Boy isn’t that a convoluted way to start a defensive stance on why he is one of the most prolific relic sellers on the internet. According to a recent statement (Sep-27-2007) out of Rome reported by John Thavis of Catholic News Service; "Relics absolutely cannot be bought or sold because they are sacred objects, they have no price. The problem of the sale of relics is widespread on the Internet, and let me say that this is a sacrilege," Msgr. Marco Frisina, who heads the liturgy office in the Diocese of Rome, said in one of the interviews.

In a recent news article reporting on the alleged sale of relics of JPII - ROME, SEPT. 25, 2007 (Zenit.org).

Q: Why is the sale of relics considered sacrilegious?

Monsignor Oder: It is absolutely a sacrilege; it is something which goes against the tradition of the Church, and against logic, recalling what Jesus said: “What you have freely received, you must also freely give." The sale of relics therefore would be offensive to God, to the saint or blessed, to the candidate to the altar.

Here is the definition of a sacrilege.

Main Entry:sac*ri*lege

Pronunciation:*sa-kr*-lij

Function: noun

Etymology: Middle English, from Old French, from Latin sacrilegium, from sacrilegus one who steals sacred things, from sacr-, sacer sacred + legere to gather, steal

1: violation of something consecrated to God

2: gross irreverence toward a hallowed person, place, or thing

It is customary to enumerate three kinds of sacrilege: personal, local, and real. St. Thomas teaches (Summa, II-II, Q., xcix) that a different sort of holiness attaches to persons, places, and things. Hence the irreverence offered to any one of them is specifically distinct from that which is exhibited to the others.

Real sacrilege is the irreverent treatment of sacred things as distinguished from places and persons. This can happen first of all by the administration or reception of the sacraments (or in the case of the Holy Eucharist by celebration) in the state of mortal sin, as also by advertently doing any of those things invalidly. Indeed deliberate and notable irreverence towards the Holy Eucharist is reputed the worst of all sacrileges. Likewise conscious maltreatment of sacred pictures or relics or perversion of Holy Scripture or sacred vessels to unhallowed uses, and finally, the usurpation or diverting of property (whether movable or immovable) intended for the maintenance of the clergy or serving for the ornamentation of the church to other uses, constitute real sacrileges. Sometimes the guilt of sacrilege may be incurred by omitting what is required for the proper administration of the sacraments or celebration of the sacrifice, as for example, if one were to say Mass without the sacred vestments.

Hesemann:

“If a dealer points out that he just offers an antique reliquary and if he gives the relic inside for free (as a gift), he does not act against the Canon Law, since the financial transaction refers exclusively to the reliquary, the "container" of the relic.”

Serafin:

Boy isn’t this a familiar numbing attitude. I am not concerned about the feelings and moral stances of the unfaithful and fallen away, they are adults, and they are business men. They will answer for their behavior and offenses, the excuse of, “I was just following everybody’s example will not stand up.”

In the Divine Comedy we see (read) Virgil guiding Dante through the nine circles of Hell. The circles are concentric, each new one representing further and further evil, culminating in the center of the earth, where Satan is held, bound.

Each circle's sin is punished in a fashion fitting their crime: the sinner is afflicted by the chief sin he committed for all of eternity. Sinners such as these are found in Purgatory, but those in hell justify their sin and are unrepentant.

The last two circles of Hell punish sins that involve conscious fraud or treachery.

The Eighth Circle. The fraudulent—those guilty of deliberate, knowing evil—are located in a circle named Malebolge ("Evil Pockets"), divided into ten bolgie, or ditches of stone, with bridges spanning the ditches:

#1) Panders and Seducers. These souls are scourged by horned demons.

#3) Simonists. They are set heads down into holes in the rock with flames burning on their feet.

#7) Thieves. These souls keep changing into snakes.

#9) Sowers of Discord and Schism. These souls are physically torn apart. Dante talks to a few, among them Bertram de Bornio, who holds his severed head like a lamp as he walks along.

#10) Falsifiers of metals, persons, coins and words. It is like a huge hospital with people with all kinds of deformities. As in the previous ditch, this too is crowded.

I really don’t understand why it is so difficult for the sellers of relics and the management of auction house to see with clarity that their participation in this neo-middle ages market place will have lasting ramifications for them? Is it that difficult to understand? The selling of the bodily remains of Christians sanctified by the Church is a sacrilege and a personal offense to the faithful and curious alike worldwide.

Unfortunately the Internet is a reflection of the moral values of today’s society. The good and bad are prevalent on the internet; this is the dark side of a modern shadowy network of profiteers. In spite of classical teachings and recent statements by Church officials it appears that the grey area (as they perceive it) is a very comfortable area for some. Not for me.

In the spirit of international cooperation in stemming the sale of human remains in the form of first class religious relics, I will make available to all accredited news agencies, writers and reporters my complete file on electronic simony on the Internet.