2. This looks like another palestinian gimmick
The devil is in the detail:
"There was no immediate confirmation from the Vatican. But Amira Hanania, a member of Abbas's Higher Committee of Churches Affairs, said the relics would arrive on November 30, the day the Palestinian town traditionally lights its Manger Square Christmas tree."
In other words, this entire article rests on claims made in palestinian sources, with no confirmation from the Vatican itself. It remains to be seen what will actually happen on November 30, but if I had to hedge my bets, I would say that the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome (one of the world's most important sites in Catholic Christianity), there is no way it would be willing to part with its most prized relics.
Similar modern attempts by Moslem states (such as Turkey) to recover the relics of saints (like St. Nicholas and St. Mark) that had been smuggled to Christendom during the Middle Ages to avoid their plundering by Moslem armies , have been been rebuffed.
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