Editor’s Note: Matthew Chicoine interviewed Anthony Di Mauro via phone call on June 2, 2025. We rearranged and edited some of the questions to provide the best reader experience without compromising the integrity of the answers.
What first drew you personally to the world of relics?
That’s a great question! Honestly, curiosity. The first time I encountered relics on a grand scale was through helping Fr. Carlos Martin. That’s what drove this passion about relics and I have this desire to grow closer to the saints.
How did that encounter shape The Relic Project?
I say it was a mystifying astonishment. It really started with the Saint Peregrine relic with my home parish (The Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes). I started asking more questions about more relics at the local level. So this passion of adventure of bringing the saints out of the darkness. I asked the local priest about relics and he showed me others.
A few months later, I asked the same priest if I could borrow some for this project. I kept asking questions about where, how many, what kind of other relics there were in our parish.
For Catholics who might not fully understand — why do relics hold such a special place in the Church’s spiritual life?
It is a beautiful way to connect with the Divine from a human level. Relics allow us to connect to God through the saints. Through the traumas of the saints we can be connected to the suffering of Jesus.
The saint’s soul is always with the relic no matter where it is. The saints are blessing us through the relics. Some people might think relics are like amulets. But relics aren’t magic. Even in the Bible we see examples like the woman reaching out to the hem of Jesus’ garment. The core element of that passage is the woman had that mustard seed of faith.
In the life of the Church, relics are just like loved ones. We keep the things from our loved ones who pass away. And the human thing to do is to honor those who went before us. And the saints are our family.
God has allowed us to have relics as weapons (spiritual), not on the level of the Rosary, but as a means of defense and battle against the Devil. Relics are tools and the Church needs to start using the tools we have access to.
We have a neglected tradition of relics and we don’t have an official prayer for the universal Church on what to pray when you encounter a relic.
There’s a renaissance of relics. The saints are telling us that they want us to use them for help. Relics are not meant to be collected and to gather dust in storage. Not for private usage but for public veneration as the whole Church.
How does The Relic Project hope to serve both scholars and everyday Catholics through its online relic library?
What we’re building is meant to serve everyone, from the scholar doing deep historical research to the Catholic who just found out there’s a relic of their favorite saint in the next town over. For scholars, it’s a place to find solid, well-documented information with history, provenance, and context all in one spot. For everyday Catholics, it’s a map, a guide, and an open invitation, helping people understand what relics are, where they are, and how they can come and pray with them.
Relics can sometimes feel mysterious or even misunderstood. What are some of the most common misconceptions you’ve encountered?
The biggest one is the idea that Catholics “worship” relics. That’s not true, we worship God alone. Relics help us honor the saints who loved Him so deeply. They’re like a physical reminder that holiness is possible in every time and place. Another misconception is that relics are some sort of good-luck charm. They’re not magic. Any grace we receive comes from God alone, relics just draw our hearts closer to Him through the example of the saints. A third common misconception is that you can buy and sell relics. Given that you can find relics on sale online, many people think this practice is okay even though it is a grave sin of simony.
With so many relics scattered, lost, or forgotten, what challenges do you face in locating and documenting them?
The biggest challenge we face is simply the sheer number of relics in the world. Because this mission is so vast, our main focus right now is on relics that are already on public display in churches and shrines. We know these relics are authentic, they wouldn’t be displayed otherwise, and there’s usually at least some information online about those locations. That gives us a solid starting point.
Another big hurdle is fundraising. We need resources to travel, photograph relics that haven’t been documented, and add them to the database. To keep expanding, we’re working to spread our mission far and wide and recruit as many global curators, “relic hunters”, as we can. These are people who search out relics in their own communities, take photos, and manually upload the details into our system. So far, we’ve brought on volunteers from Chicago, the Netherlands, Scotland, the Philippines, and beyond. This is truly an international mission, and the reality is, we can’t do it without the help of everyone.
Another huge hurdle we face is the lack of knowledge about relics. To bridge this gap, we’ve launched a missionary program that trains and equips people to bring relics out of the shadows and into the light. Too often, relics sit in closets, boxes, or tucked away in places where no one sees them. Our missionaries work to bring them into homes, hospitals, prisons, onto the streets, and back into church spaces where they may have been hidden for years. The goal is simple, to create more opportunities for people to encounter the saints in a real and personal way.
Your team has beautiful patrons in St. Anthony and Bl. Carlo Acutis; how do their lives inspire your work today?
St. Anthony is famous for helping people find lost things, and that’s exactly what we’re doing, finding lost relics and bringing them back to the light for the Church. Blessed Carlo inspires us in how we use technology for good. He called the internet a gift from God if used well, and he lived that out in a way that speaks powerfully to our time. Together, they remind us that holiness isn’t stuck in one era, it’s alive in every generation.
For someone new to relics, what would you recommend as a good first step to deepen their appreciation and devotion?
Go visit a relic in person if you can. Stand or kneel before the saint and just pray, asking God to help you follow that saint’s example. Read a little bit about their life and virtues, and if you get the chance, take part in a public veneration. Seeing a relic up close changes the way you think about it. It becomes personal. And if you can’t travel right away, our online library is a great way to discover saints and learn where their relics are kept.
About Anthony:
Based in Spokane, Washington, Anthony Di Mauro is the founder and executive director of The Relic Project, a mission-driven nonprofit working to advance the relic renaissance by bringing the ancient tradition of relic veneration into the digital age. Similar to St. Carlo Acutis and his Eucharistic Miracle database, The Relic Project is developing the world’s first global online relic map—a comprehensive and accessible digital library of 1st and 2nd class relics. This resource allows the faithful to discover, locate, and venerate these sacred treasures of the Church. Through public events, education, and missionary outreach, The Relic Project seeks to reconnect modern Catholics with the saints and foster deeper devotion around the world.
A graduate of Gonzaga University with a degree in Public Relations and concentrations in Marketing and Journalism, Anthony combines expertise in media, communications, and nonprofit leadership to guide this growing apostolate. He previously served as a Project Assistant Intern with EWTN’s Vatican Bureau in Rome, contributing to the EWTN Vaticano program, the EWTN Travel app, and the National Catholic Register. His work focused on communicating the richness of Catholic tradition through modern media.
Balancing his public ministry with personal passions, Anthony is an avid animal lover and gardening enthusiast, caring for 3 cats, a dog, and a vibrant garden. His life reflects a deep commitment to faith, service, and bringing the beauty of Catholic tradition to the modern world.
