St. Nicholas' Relics Passed to Russian Orthodox Church for Temporary Storage

The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) and the Roman Catholic Church signed an agreement on Sunday, which sanctions passing part of St. Nicholas' relics to ROC for temporary storage.

BARI (Italy), (Sputnik) — The agreement was signed by chairman of the ROC's External Church Relations Department, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk and Archbishop of the city of Bari Francesco Cacucci. Prior to the ceremony at the Pontifical Basilica, the left rib of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker was put into a shrine protected with bullet-proof glass.

The special board with relics has already departed from Bari to Moscow. The relics are expected to be delivered to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow at 6 p.m. local time (15:00 GMT).

Russian Orthodox Church and Roman Catholic Church reached the agreement on moving the relics in February 2016, during the meeting between Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia and Pope Francis. The relics will be kept in Russia from May 21 to July 28, 2017.