LONDON (The Catholic Herald) - Bones are to be removed from the body of Cardinal John Henry Newman so that they can be venerated as holy relics. The Government has granted a licence permitting undertakers to dig up the body of Cardinal Newman more than a century after his death.

Officials from the Ministry of Justice have also given the go-ahead for Catholic experts in holy objects to fly in from Italy and retrieve "major relics" from the corpse after the coffin is opened for the first time.

These will most likely be bones from his hands which will be shared out between key churches in Britain - as well as one being sent to the Vatican.
They will be placed in shrines so Catholic pilgrims can venerate Cardinal Newman and pray for his intercession when he is made a saint.

Mr Jennings said: "Specialist people from Rome and Milan will be coming out to take relics from his body. A 'major relic' could be the bones from one of his fingers."

Newman's remains will be transferred to a new coffin that will be put on show to the public before it is placed in a marble sarcophagus after a celebratory Mass in the Birmingham Oratory.

Mr Jennings said yesterday that he was "most grateful" to Sir Suma and his officials for granting the licence in "exceptional circumstances". He added: "The Ministry of Justice has recognised the importance of Newman as a national figure and as a figure of great importance to the country, the Church and to dialogue between faiths."