Enter the front doors of Christ the King Chapel, turn left, and head toward the statue of St. Francis of Assisi at the end of the hall, and you will find, along the wall to your right, a brand-new addition: a handmade reliquary cabinet displaying an extensive collection of relics for veneration.
Behind the cabinet’s glass doors, dozens of reliquaries hold authenticated first-class relics of saints such as Francis and Clare of Assisi, Dominic Savio, Elizabeth of Hungary, Martin de Porres, Katharine Drexel, John Bosco, Philomena, Frances Xavier Cabrini, and many more.
“Relics have been a great tradition in the Catholic Church,” says Father Shawn Roberson, TOR, who is chaplain of Christ the King. “From the first-century Church, where Catholics were having Mass at the graves of the martyrs, relics have had a great impact on the Church’s life of worship.”
The idea of installing a reliquary cabinet first came up back in 2024, when Father Shawn was discussing the chapel’s new renovations with the planning committee.
“Our students have a very strong devotion to the saints,” he explains, “and we wanted to facilitate their devotion as best we could.”
For years, Father Shawn has witnessed that devotion through a longstanding tradition: About once a year, he brings a group of students on a pilgrimage to St. Anthony’s Chapel in Pittsburgh, a shrine with the largest collection of relics in the world outside the Vatican. He still remembers with awe the time the curator unlocked a safe and showed him the tooth of St. Anthony of Padua.
“It was a very moving and powerful moment,” says Father Shawn. “St. Anthony was at the foundation of our order with St. Francis.”
Inspired by those experiences, Father Shawn felt a personal call to bring a reliquary cabinet to Christ the King Chapel.
Also attending the renovation committee’s planning sessions was Mark Nelson, owner of Nelson Fine Art and Gifts in Steubenville, who helped brainstorm ideas for constructing the cabinet. In early 2026, Mike Nelson, Mark’s brother, began custom-building the cabinet by hand, assisted by Brodie Stuzman ’13. They chose walnut wood to match other walnut trimmings that had recently been added to the chapel, especially those in the hallway where the cabinet would be located.
“What steered us was the architecture that was already in the chapel,” Mike explains. “We wanted it to look similar to that.”
The cabinet also has interior lighting to illuminate the relics.
“The workmanship is just outstanding,” notes Father Shawn. “They did an incredible job.”
Once the cabinet was built, Father Shawn began filling it with relics. Some, like St. John Vianney and St. Thomas Aquinas, had already been on campus in a collection passed down from fourth President Father Michael Scanlan, TOR. Many others, such as the Twelve Apostles, St. Joseph of Arimathea, and St. Catherine of Siena, were acquired in Rome in the 1970s and 1980s from the Vatican’s Apostolic Penitentiary by Father Tom Edwards, TOR, and were recently donated to Franciscan University by the Province of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.
While the reliquary cabinet holds the University’s largest collection, visitors looking for relics elsewhere on campus can find three first-class relics displayed in Sacred Heart Chapel in Christ the Teacher Hall: Saints Carlo Acutis, Bernadine of Siena, and Gianna Beretta Molla. Other relics can be found in the residence hall chapels; for example, a relic of Blessed Solanus Casey is in the men’s dorm that bears his name.
“It’s very awe-inspiring, seeing relics displayed, and seeing the power of the saints and intercessors,” says Father Shawn. “They represent that we are a church of the Incarnation.”
