Some pressed their fingers against the protective glass, then touched their lips or hearts and made the sign of the cross. Other Roman churches boast pieces said to be from the infant Jesus' manger, the post against which he was whipped, and the lance that pierced his side before he died. While Catholic teaching permits the veneration of relics and some prelates encourage it, the church forbids trading in relics. It also rejects miraculous powers attributed to relics, which are said to heal the sick, to raise the dead and to levitate. The policy still stands.
Authenticity is a more delicate matter.
People have figured out that if all the relics were real, the cross would have had to weigh about 3,000 kilograms. That's three tons. The church deals gently with suspect relics, quietly dropping some from inventories, removing them from display or letting them fade into obscurity. Relics that still attract deep veneration, however, are often left in place. One set of relics about which there are no doubts are those of St. Anthony.