Accra – “Crowning the relic of Saint Agatha means proclaiming that a woman who remained faithful to Christ until her death now shares in his victory. It is an act of veneration, not of worship”.
This is stated by Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi, Bishop of Sunyani and President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference, in a pastoral letter explaining the meaning of the recent coronation ceremony of the skull relic of Saint Agatha in Catania, Sicily.
On 17 August 2026, Catania marked the culmination of the Year of St Agatha, with extraordinary celebrations for the ninth centenary of the translation of the saint’s relics — exactly 900 years since 17 August 1126.
Papal Legate Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, together with the local clergy, including Archbishop Luigi Renna, publicly displayed, crowned and kissed the saint’s skull: a first-class relic traditionally preserved in a recently restored 14th-century gilded silver bust-shaped reliquary.
A video of the ceremony was widely shared on social media and other platforms in Ghana and among the Ghanaian diaspora. Many non-Catholic Ghanaians, particularly Pentecostal and Protestants, accused the ceremony of idolatry, witchcraft, or paganism. These reactions must be seen within the local cultural context, where human skulls and bones occasionally appear in “juju” rituals. This led to comments such as, “If this had been done with a Black priest or as part of a traditional Ghanaian religion, it would have been called witchcraft.”
Bishop Gyamfi acknowledges these concerns, noting that “this video disturbed many believers. Most felt uneasy at the sight of a human skull on display; it reminded them of occultism, the attempt to communicate with the dead, or to gain hidden supernatural power through rituals outside of worship.” This spiritual practice, the bishop stresses, is condemned by the Catholic Church on the basis of Holy Scripture.
For this reason, the president of the Ghanaian Bishops’ Conference recalls the Church’s teaching on the true meaning of relic veneration. “A relic is not a curiosity, but a tangible testimony to a holy life,” he explains. “Saint Agatha, a virgin and martyr of the 3rd century venerated in the Roman Catholic Church, is venerated through her skull, a first-class relic, because the Church considers the human body, created by God and destined for resurrection, to be sacred.”
“The Council of Trent taught that the bodies of martyrs, once temples of the Holy Spirit, should be venerated by the faithful. This veneration is not limited to the bones themselves, but extends to the saint and ultimately to God, the source of his holiness,” Bishop Gyamfi emphasizes.
“When the faithful kneel before a relic, kiss it, or participate in a procession with it, they are not worshipping the object itself, but honoring the saint whose remains it contains, just as one kisses a photograph of a deceased relative, not because the paper depicts the person, but because it expresses affection for the one represented,” the bishop continues.
Bishop Gyamfi also emphasizes: “This act is in no way intended to summon a spirit or to gain hidden knowledge, as necromancy or occultism do. We ask the saint to intercede with God, and it is nothing more than asking another Christian to pray for us.”
“We invoke upon you the intercession of St Agatha and impart our episcopal blessing,” concludes the President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference.
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