20/08/2026
Catholics, please educate me without insults. Why is a human skull being carried and honoured during a Catholic service not considered idolatry worship?
This is a very reasonable question, especially for someone who is not familiar with Catholic theology. If you see Catholics carrying a human skull, kissing a relic, kneeling before it, putting flowers around it, or processing with the remains of a saint, it can naturally look like worship.
So, what exactly is the Catholic explanation?
The answer begins with an important distinction:
Catholics believe there is a difference between worshipping something and honouring the person represented by or connected to that object.
In Catholic theology, worship belongs to God alone. The Catholic Church calls the worship given to God latria. It means recognizing God as the Creator, Lord and ultimate source of salvation. Catholics believe that no saint, angel, relic, statue, image, or human being can receive this kind of worship.
For example, when Catholics celebrate Mass, they believe they are worshipping God, not Mary, not Peter, not Paul, and certainly not a piece of bone.
This is why Catholics can say "We honour the relic, but we do not worship the relic."
To someone outside Catholicism, however, the obvious question is: "But if you kneel before it, kiss it, carry it in procession and pray near it, how is that different from worship?"
That's where the Catholic concept of veneration comes in. Catholics distinguish between:
• Worship = given to God alone
• Veneration = honour given to saints
• honour = given to sacred objects and relics because of their connection to God and His saints
The important point is that Catholics believe the object itself has no divine power simply because it is a relic.
A saint's skull is still a human skull.
The bone is not God.
The saint is not God.
The saint is a creature of God.
So why honour it?
Because Catholics believe that the body belonged to a person who lived for God and is now with God.
Think about it in ordinary human life.
Imagine that your father dies.
You keep his photograph.
You might keep his clothes.
You might keep his Bible.
You might keep his wedding ring.
You might even kiss his photograph.
If someone asks:
"Why are you kissing that photograph?"
You wouldn't say: "Because I believe this photograph is my father."
You would say: "This reminds me of my father. I love the person represented by it."
The photograph isn't the person. But because of its relationship to the person, it has emotional and personal significance. Catholics make a similar argument concerning relics.
They are not saying: "This bone is God."
They are saying: "This belonged to a person who belonged to God, and we honour what God did in that person's life."
But is there anything like this in the Bible?
Interestingly, the Bible contains several examples of God's people treating the remains of holy people with great respect.
Joseph's bones.
Before Joseph died, he made the Israelites promise that they would take his bones with them when God eventually brought Israel out of Egypt. Genesis 50:25 says: "God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here."
And when the Israelites left Egypt, Moses fulfilled that promise: "Moses took the bones of Joseph with him." Exodus 13:19
The Israelites did not believe Joseph's bones were God. They did not worship the bones. But they considered the remains of this important servant of God worthy of respect and preservation.
So, why isn't a Catholic carrying and honouring a human skull of a saint necessarily worship?
Because Catholic theology makes a fundamental distinction between worship and veneration.
The skull is not God.
The saint is not God.
The relic does not replace God.
The worship belongs to God alone.
The relic is honoured because it belonged to someone whom Catholics believe lived a holy life and now belongs to God.
The Bible itself contains examples of God's people preserving the bones of Joseph, God's power being associated with Elisha's bones, and extraordinary healings occurring through objects associated with Paul.
Ultimately, the Catholic argument is not:
"We worship the skull, but we call it something else."
It is: "We do not believe the skull is God in the first place. We honour what it represents and the person to whom it belonged, while worship belongs to God alone."
And perhaps the most important lesson is this:
Before calling another Christian an idolater, first understand what that Christian actually believes.
You may still disagree with the practice. You may still find it uncomfortable. You may even conclude that the practice goes beyond what you believe Scripture permits. But disagreement should come after understanding, not before it.
A sincere question deserves a sincere explanation not an insult.
But can Catholics get this wrong?
Absolutely.
This is an important part of the discussion. The Catholic distinction between worship and veneration does not mean that every individual Catholic has perfect understanding or perfect practice.
A Catholic could potentially treat a statue, relic, medal or saint as though it had magical powers.
That would be a problem.
The Catholic Church itself teaches that superstition is wrong.
A relic is not a magical object.
A saint is not a replacement for God.
Mary is not God.
Peter is not God.
A statue is not God.
A bone is not God.
God alone is God.
So if someone were to say: "This relic has power independent of God." that would not be the Catholic theological position.
Rev fr Prince Chidi Philip
