Is a crucifix a relic

Answer 1

Catholic AnswerNo, a crucifix is just a cross with an image of Jesus on it. It may be blessed by a priest, it is not a relic.

from Modern Catholic Dictionary by John A. Hardon, S.J. Doubleday & Co., Inc. Garden City, NY 1980 Crucifix. A cross bearing the image of Christ. It must be placed on or over an altar where Mass is offered. Due reverence is always given to it. It is sometimes carried as a procession cross leading a line of clergy. Depicting the dead or suffering Christ, the crucifix did not come into general use until after the Reformation. The earlier ones represented Our Lord as the High Priest crowned, robed, and alive. Some men had women religious wear a crucifix as part of their habit. A crucifix is attached to the Rosary beads, and many liturgical blessings are to be given with it. A blessed crucifix is a sacramental and is commonly displayed in Catholic hospitals, homes, and institutions

Answer 2

During the first three hundred years of Christianity, there was no evident interest in visiting the Holy Land or in anything with which Jesus is identified. Helena, mother of Emperor Constantine, changed all that when she visited Palestine and found, to her own satisfaction, all the places of importance to Christianity and even uncovered the "True Cross". No one argued whether Helena's discoveries were pure fantasy: after all she had the imprimatur of Emperor Constantine, and therefore of the Roman Empire itself. A tradition has grown up around Helena's cross, and it has been pointed out that enough relics now exist from that cross to make several complete crosses. Whether or not these relics are from the cross of Jesus is a matter of faith.