Posted on 04/04/2005 11:48:54 AM PDT by lizol
Poles want pope's heart buried in country
By MONIKA SCISLOWSKA ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
Nuns and children pray for the late Pope John Paul II in Krakow, southern Poland, on Monday, April 4, 2005 in front of the residency of the archbishop. Pope John Paul II died in his Vatican apartment Saturday, April 2, 2005. He was 84. John Paul was a bishop in Krakow before he became the Pope. (AP Photo/Jockel Finck) KRAKOW, Poland -- Some officials in Krakow, where Pope John Paul II was archbishop, hope his heart can be buried in their cathedral alongside Poland's medieval kings and saints, but a senior cardinal cast doubt on that happening.
"We would like the heart of the greatest Krakovian and the greatest Pole to rest at Wawel (Cathedral)," Mayor Jacek Majchrowski was quoted as saying Monday by the Gazeta Wyborcza daily. "But the rules are set by the church and we will respect them."
The heart of another great Pole, composer Frederic Chopin, rests in an urn in Warsaw's Holy Cross Church, although the rest of his body is buried at Paris's Pere Lachaise Cemetery.
The College of Cardinals said Monday the pope's remains would be interred in the grotto of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. Asked if this ruled out sending his heart to Poland, Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls did not directly reply, saying he was merely transmitting information on decisions taken by the cardinals.
In an interview with Rzeszpospolita daily, Krakow's Cardinal Franciszek Macharski said the age of dismembering the corpses of great figures had passed.
"There was once this Romantic custom that after death parts of the body of known and loved people be placed in important places," Macharski said. "This tradition is no longer ours. Respect for the human body says that it ought to be laid in a grave."
The pope is revered in overwhelmingly Roman Catholic Poland as a national as well as spiritual leader for his role in inspiring resistance to the communist regime, which fell peacefully in 1989-90. His life has special meaning in Krakow, where he studied for the priesthood and rose within the church from a young priest to bishop, archbishop and cardinal.
He celebrated his first Mass as a young priest in the 12th-century crypt of St. Leonard beneath the cathedral.
"Having the heart of the greatest citizen of Krakow lay in Wawel would be the greatest honor for us," city spokesman Marcin Helbin told The Associated Press.
Not as unusual a request as you might imagine.
Compare with "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee".
Seems that in times past, a highly regarded person may have had several parts taken from the body and had them buried in various places, to satisfy the wishes of various constituencies to claim that "So-and-so is buried here".
Some politics involved with these claims, as you might expect.
Why the infatuation with dead body parts? This seems ghoulish to me, as does opening the body of a great Pope for this purpose.
What next, dip his heart in gold and worship it on an altar?
Freaky wierd.
How is it any different than seeing Washington's teeth at the Smithsonian?
Education cures ignorance.
However, given modern day embalming techniques, JPII's heart is now unrecognizable.
I think the Pope should be buried in Poland with his immediate family...
Judge Greer ruled he has to be buried in Italy.
Not as ghoulish as you think, when compared to the history of Catholicism, and even Christianity in general. Putting aside the various scams that have popped up over the years, having body parts of important figures buried or displayed in more than one location was not uncommon.
That was mean and uncalled for.
I don't think JPII really cares too much where/how his body is buried at this point. Being in the presence of the Creator would make it small in comparison, wouldn't it?
Frank Sinatra left his heart in San Francisco....
I believe the same happened to Dr. Livingston in Africa.
guess whats going to be buried in Little Rock, Ark ?
It has been suggested in private e-mail that his heart was removed before embalming in order to be buried with the Kings and Queens of Poland.
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