Holy bones head east: St Nicholas’s relics in Russia

For the first time in nearly a millennium, relics of St Nicholas have been allowed to leave Italy to be venerated by the Russian Orthodox Church. The supposed remains of the saint have been kept in Bari in southern Italy since 1087, when they were stolen from Myra in Asia Minor (now Turkey). Encased in a specially made golden ark, a 4in (10cm) piece of rib arrived in Moscow on 21 May. The relic was to be moved to St Petersburg in June before being returned to Bari in late July. The decision to allow the relic to leave Italy was the result of an historic encounter between Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, in Cuba last year. The Orthodox and Roman Churches split in 1054 and have been riven by mistrust and suspicion ever since. D.Telegraph, 23 May

2017. For more saintly news, see pp22-23.

PHOTOGRAPH: VAlERy SHARIFulIN\ TASS VIA GETTy IMAGES