The bodies of two of his immediate predecessors, Pope Pius XII and Pope Paul VI, had undergone rapid decay; in Pius's case, due to a disastrous embalming that sped up the process rather than slowing it down. (The stench of Pope Pius's rapidly decaying corpse led some of the Swiss Guards, who provided a ceremonial guard of honour during his lying in state, to vomit and faint; the body turned purple and the pope's nose broke off).

Well, Pius XII was a rotten SOB in life. It figures he'd be even more rotten in death.

Al

SUICIDEGIRL

Christmas Island

APR 06, 2005 04:05 PM

Krash said:
When Harold II (last Saxon king of England) died, the undertakers were a bit slow in putting him the ground, too. During his funeral service, his bloated corpse was on display. The smell was bad enough with him just lying there. But when his stomach burst open and his decomposing viscera sprayed the crowd, that's when things really got fun.

The moral of this story?

What GWAR does has ALWAYS been popular.

WOO!

Jessewestend

I'm lost

OLD SKOOL

APR 06, 2005 07:10 PM

yes, the saint process involves miraculous preservation of the body. Saints have been made or broken by that teeny technicality. Also it makes sense that most saints are italian since they buried people in limestone crypts with stable environments and covered their bodies with lyme to reduce the smell. THey were declaring one saint after another out there until they found a crypt of 300 dead pariosioners and realized "maybe its just the way we bury people out here... well that or us italians are effing awesome."

::::Note::: I am not Italian, but I am effing awesome.

OliviaDC

Washington, DC

January 2005

APR 06, 2005 07:39 PM

DonnyDorko said:
I want to know how Pope John XXIII's tomb is "vacant". Did he decide he was tired of being dead and just get up and leave?

I was wondering this too. That and, why the hell does someone get sloppy seconds on a tomb? Seems kinda odd to me.

Altoid

Huntsville, AL

November 2003

APR 06, 2005 07:41 PM

jaeska said:

DonnyDorko said:
I want to know how Pope John XXIII's tomb is "vacant". Did he decide he was tired of being dead and just get up and leave?

I was wondering this too. That and, why the hell does someone get sloppy seconds on a tomb? Seems kinda odd to me.

Apparently they dug him up and put him upstairs when he got made a saint or something. But I'm no expert.

Meeks

Canada

November 2004

APR 06, 2005 09:52 PM

I was just wondering this!!
They probably inject him with a bunch of anti-decay chemicals or something....
I find the whole dead body on display for days thing a little odd...

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December 2004

APR 06, 2005 12:25 PM

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