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Witness History: St Teresa of Avila's severed hand

St Teresa of Avila's severed hand

BBC World Service - Witness History, St Teresa of Avila's severed hand

How General Franco kept the hand of St Teresa of Avila for spiritual guidance.

During the Spanish Civil War, General Franco acquired St Teresa of Avila's severed hand. He relied on it for spiritual guidance until his death.

After winning the Spanish Civil War in 1939, Franco's dictatorship began. During the war, he acquired St Teresa of Avila's severed hand and kept it for spiritual guidance, it was returned when he died in 1975.

The hand was initially stolen by General Franco's opposition from a convent in Ronda, but Franco’s nationalist soldiers took it for themselves when they won the Battle of Malaga.

Sister Jennifer is the Mother Superior of the Church of Our Lady of Mercy, Ronda, where the hand is kept on display for people to see.

She tells Johnny I’Anson who St Teresa was, why her hand was cut off, and what made the relic special.

(Photo: Monument of Saint Teresa of Avila, Spain. Credit: Digicomphoto/Getty Images)

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