Don't tell that to Pope John XXIII.
Posted on 04/03/2005 10:35:41 AM PDT by el_doctor2
Italian officials and Vatican clerics have been paying their respects to Pope John Paul II, whose body is lying in state in the Vatican.
Mourners, including Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, filed past the Pope shown on television dressed in a crimson robe and a white mitre.
Earlier, tens of thousands of mourners in St Peter's Square in Rome attended an open-air Mass in honour of the Pope.
John Paul II died on Saturday after a long illness, aged 84.
THE WORLD MOURNS * In the Pope's native Poland, bells rang out across the country and night-long vigils were held
* Brazil, home to the world's largest Catholic population, has declared seven days of national mourning
* Government offices in the Philippines, Asia's largest Catholic country, have been told to fly the flag at half-mast. A period of mourning will be held from Monday until the Pope is buried
* In communist Cuba, three days of official mourning are being held
* On Indonesia's Nias island, survivors of Monday's huge earthquake gathered outdoors to mourn the Pope in their first Mass since the tremor.
In the UK, a spokesman for Prime Minister Tony Blair said he had postponed plans to announce a general election on Monday afternoon, in order to attend a service in memory of the Pope.
Popes are not embalmed. I hope the remains hold up over the next 5 days.
Interesting.
They aren't embalmed?
Wow yeah I'm not sure how long an already fragile body can hold up.
I remember Paul VI, who died in August, was layed out for a week and didn't look to good at the end.
Welcome back, doc.
OH yikes. That's kind of sad- I hate the thought of the last glimpses we get of him are a body that's not holding up well.
Actually I heard on the TV yesterday, that the body was embalmed.....
If that's true, I'd bet on it holding up for the next 5 millennia.
According to this article, at least three have been embalmed.
Of course they're embalmed. One who has seen hundreds of embalmed bodies, as I have, can recognize an embalming job.
Three days after death, tissue gas from bacteria begins to give off an odor, and an unembalmed body swells. Skin begins to separate from the underlying tissue, so the face would sag.
Paul VI was embalmed but not very well, as his face was turning dark and the swelling was obvious. I suspect he wasn't aspirated, which is a procedure that evacuates the internal organs of all matter and blood.
I won't go into what that involves here.
why would they not be embalmed? only morons would leave out a body that long without embalming it.
Orthodox Jews and Muslims do not permit embalming, but they typically bury their dead within 24 hours after death.
Don't tell that to Pope John XXIII.
Yes, they are embalmed. In regards to your comment about the guards having needed be changed:
Go to:
http://www.kensmen.com/catholic/johnxxiiiembalmed.html
The reason John IIXXX looks so good is because it is a wax mask.
By Friday, they may wish they had.
It's against the law to embalm in Italy.
I heard on tv that Pope John Paul II was "prepared", not embalmed.
That is simply not true. Paul VI, John XXIII, and John Paul I were all embalmed, by licensed embalmers.
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