Yeah, but maybe the next Pope’s guts will still be usable when he dies. (Like if he’s suddenly decapitated in a freak genuflecting accident.)
Say, anyone remember the song “Gary Gilmore’s Eyes”?
I heard on MSNBC yesterday that Pope John Paul II has not been embalmed at all, but “prepared.” Those at the Vatican who provided this information did not elaborate. Other sources commented that the preparation was purely cosmetic.
I don’t understand how this could be possible with his remains lying in state.
His body will be placed in the same place under the Bascillica where Pope John XXIII was buried at one time. When Pope John’s body was moved to a different location, it was said to have been in a near perfect state of preservation.
Please excuse me if I am repeating someone in another thread.
The reports I read said the pope’s body had been “preserved” but not “embalmed”. So there must have been some chemical applied to him to keep him looking presentable. But he didn’t get formaldehyde flushed through him.
But that still may happen.
John XXIII was disinterred in 2000, I believe, upon his beatification. The body showed no signs of decomposition, and was moved to a glass coffin in the basillica along with one of the Leo’s and a Gregory.
I had a link to a good site about this, but can’t seem to Google it now.
However, if you will check the comments in the link provided by APB in post #13, above, you will note that the gentleman who is actually providing the service has stated
I suspect that the Vatican has simply not chosen to use the word “embalm” and that this has fueled a bunch of rather wild speculations. (Does anyone know whether current Italian mores tend to avoid the word “embalm” as not polite?)
I have officially decided I have no idea what they are doing with the pope’s body.
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I think the Church has contracted with Alcor to create a huge underground vault filled with dewers where they vitrify dead Popes until nanotech advances to the point where they can be brought back to life. You know, that whole “culture of life” thing they’re talking about.
Now if you thought that Luther fellow started a schism…
No, not really, but it’s fun to think about.
The question everybody asks is “Are the clothes intact, or slit down the back for easy dressing?”
Probably they’re used to doing things the old-fashioned way. According to my father, that used to be the thing, heavy florid colors with the make up. You still see it with some funeral homes.
CNN is reporting that upon the Pope’s beatification, should it come, his heart will be disinterred and reburied in Poland.
I’m reasonably devout, but I can’t help thinking of Tony Bennett.