By Simon Caldwell
Catholic News Service
LONDON — A relic of bones of an early pope was given to the Catholic Church after it was stolen from a car and recovered by a waste disposal company.
Three fragments of a bone said to belong to St. Clement I, a first-century martyr who was ordained a bishop by St. Peter the Apostle, were presented to London’s Westminster Cathedral June 19 by James Rubin, owner of Enviro Waste.
Rubin said he discovered the relic in his warehouse during an office cleanup earlier this year.
“We had a range of furniture and electrical waste, and I happened to see it (the relic) on the side of someone’s desk. I thought it was a bit strange, that it didn’t really belong in the hands of a waste company, but I didn’t know what it was at the time,” he told a news conference in the cathedral.
The relic sits on red silk damask within a small oval metal reliquary above the words “Ex Oss S. Clementis PM.”
He discovered through Google that “Ex Oss” meant “ex ossibus,” Latin for “from the bones of,” Rubin said, noting that he then knew he had made an interesting discovery and made it public, in the hope that he might obtain more information.
Almost 200 people, including Catholic Church representatives, contacted him asking to be given the relic, and he chose to present it to the cathedral, he said.
The relic’s original owner, who has decided to remain anonymous, told Rubin it was among items stolen from a car and agreed that it should be given to the church.