(ZENIT News / Salamanca, Spain, 30.05.2024).- The General Postulator of the Order of the Discalced Carmelites, in Rome’s General Curia, has requested Pope Francis’ authorization to carry out a new examination of Saint Teresa of Jesus’ body, which is in Alba de Tormes, Spain. Through the Bishop of Salamanca, the Postulator presented the request to initiate the study to the Cardinal Prefect of the Causes of Saints.
Since August 2022, the Order of the Discalced Carmelites has expressed the desire to open Saint Teresa of Jesus’ sepulcher, located in the Basilica of the Annunciation of Our Lady of Carmel, in the convent of the Discalced Carmelites. The last opening was carried out in 1914. The intention is to make a detailed study of the Saint’s body and her relics.
The Order’s Father General, Miguel Márquez Calle, approved the study of the filed documentation and now requests an analysis of the Saint’s remains, in a similar way as was done in 1991, during the centenary of Saint John of the Cross’ death.
Italian doctors and scientists, headed by prestigious Professor Luigi Capasso, together with experts of the Vatican Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, will carry out the task.
After the death of the Renovator of Carmel, many attempted to move the Saint’s body to other locations, but the Carmelites of Alba de Tormes refused such requests. However, several parts of her remains were amputated and taken to other places. Saint Teresa’s body is in the convent she founded and where she died on October 4, 1582. Her body was in several places of the old Major Chapel until it was placed in an alabaster urn in 1677, located in the altarpiece of the new Major Chapel. The urn was replaced in 1760 by another of black streaked marble.
Given different interests and intrigues a shared protection system was devised of Saint Teresa’s sepulcher in the 17thcentury, with the division and distribution of the keys among different individuals and entities, both civil as well as religious. There are ten keys of the sepulcher: three are in the Community’s possession, three in that of the Duke of Aba, and three in that of the General Father of the Carmel in Rome, and one of the Spanish Monarchy, which King Alfonso XIII gave to the Prior of the Discalced Carmelite Fathers before his exile. At present, this last key is exhibited in the Convent of Saint John of the Cross.
The possible dates for the opening will be established after the summer of 2024, according to the availability of the Italian scientists and other individuals involved. The recognition will entail several canonical steps and it is hoped that the sepulcher will be opened in 2025 for the veneration of the citizens of Alba de Tormes and pilgrims.
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