HARVARD CATHOLIC FORUM

Co-presented by the Bollandist Society and the Clough School of Theology and Ministry, Boston College

SAINTS DO NOT REST IN PEACE: THE AFTERLIFE OF RELICS

Patrick Geary (Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton)

Thursday, November 5, 2026, 6:00 PM EST

Sever Hall 113, and livestreamed

Free and open to all; registration requested for all and required for the livestream  

From earliest times, Christians have felt a strong need to maintain contact with the remains of especially holy persons who had died in the faith. This lecture explores a dramatic history of competition and dispute in which both ordinary lay persons and esteemed religious organizations expressed this need to hold on to the sanctified dead.

Co-sponsored by the Standing Committee on Medieval Studies at Harvard, The Lumen Christi Institute at the University of Chicago, COLLIS Institute for Catholic Culture at Cornell, and The Nova Forum for Catholic Thought at USC.