Tens of thousands of people have flocked to see the remains of a revered Spanish saint, more than 440 years after her death, prompting debate over whether such displays “encourage morbid curiosity”.
Catholic worshippers in their droves have travelled to Alba de Tormes in western Spain to view relics of Saint Teresa of Avila, a 16th-century religious reformer.
Faithful lined up to see her, silent and wonderstruck as the remains of the mystic were put on display in a silver casket for the first time in more than 100 years.
“It gave me a feeling of fulfilment, of joy, and of sadness,” said Guiomar Sanchez, who travelled from Madrid with her two daughters on Sunday, the last full day of the exhibit.
“Seeing her was an inexplicable experience,” she added, praising the saint as being ahead of her time.
After weeks on display, the casket of Saint Teresa was resealed on Monday and carried through the streets with pilgrims following behind her.
Saint Teresa, who died in 1582, is a towering figure from Spain’s Golden Age and 16th-century counter-reformation.
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Her explorations of the inner life and meditations on her relationship with God were controversial, yet they have been held up over the centuries as a “profound treatise on spirituality,” said Jose Calvo, a professor of theology at the Pontifical University of Salamanca who specialises in Medieval history.
Her admirers include Spanish dictator General Francisco Franco, who was rumoured to have kept a relic of the saint’s hand next to his bed, and new Pope Leo XIV, who visited her birthplace last year.
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Some worshippers this month were visibly moved. On Sunday, a group of nuns from India wept as they looked upon the saint’s remains behind a glass case.
But the exhibition has also provoked debate over the appropriateness of displaying the remains of long-dead people in public.
“It is not a good idea to display the body of Saint Teresa in this way,” said nearby Bishop of Salamanca, Jose Luis Retana. “It only serves to encourage people’s morbid curiosity.”
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But local church officials and experts downplayed such reactions, saying the display was nothing out of the ordinary for how Catholics have revered their saints for centuries.
“It was just something people always did when they thought somebody might be a saint,” said Cathleen Medwick, who wrote a book about Saint Teresa.
“And the fact that her body hadn’t decayed very much was also considered a sign of her sanctity,” she added.
