EXHUMATION AND THE INCORRUPTIBLES II

 EXHUMATION AND THE INCORRUPTIBLES II

HOW THE CHURCH DEFINE THE INCORRUPTIBILITY OF SAINTS, AND WHAT THE PHENOMENON SIGNIFY

Incorruptibility is a Catholic and Eastern Orthodox belief that divine intervention has allowed for some human bodies, specifically those of saints, to avoid the normal natural process of decomposition as a sign of the holiness of the saint to be. 

Incorruptibility is thought to occur even in the presence of factors that normally hasten decomposition and is considered a supernatural occurrence. Embalmed bodies are not recognized in this case. This was the cases of saints Cecilia, Catherine of Genoa, Francis Xavier Cabrini, Catherine Laboure and Padre Pio. Past popes, such as Blessed Pope Pius IX, St. Pius X and St. John XXIII are also considered incorrupt.  

In Catholicism, if a body is judged as incorruptible after death, this is most often seen as a sign that the individual is a saint. Canon law allows inspection of the body so relics can be taken and sent to the Vatican.

A pontifical commission, a committee of Catholic experts convened by the pope for a specific reason, can authorize inspection of the relics and demand a written report. Catholic law allows saints to be buried under an altar so Mass can be celebrated above them.

Thus, Incorruptibility is the preservation of the body from normal decay after death. According to Catholic tradition, incorruptible saints give witness to the truth of the resurrection of the body and the life that is to come.

However, the Church does not have a cut-and-dried definition of what condition the body of a holy person must be found in to be declared incorrupt, and it does not necessarily require that the body remains permanently in the same condition in which it was found.

Incorruptibility, when proven, is considered a sign, because it cannot be explained by intentional preservation, such as embalming, or by unintentional preservation through natural causes, such as mummification. 

A common objection to incorruptibility is the idea that the body either must have been deliberately preserved, a practice since ancient times, or that the conditions of the grave or tomb allowed for natural preservation. In at least one case, modern scientific examination has found that a saint previously believed to be incorrupt was likely not.

According to a 2001 article by Heather Pringle, a Church-sanctioned investigation by Italian scientists in the 1980s found that the 13th-century Tuscan saint Margaret of Cortona had received extensive embalming and other intervention after death. 

The Scientists also uncovered documents that showed embalming had been requested by devotees of the saint, a patron of reformed prostitutes. But after the passage of years, the fact had been forgotten, and her appearance led people to believe it was miraculous.

The evidence had been covered by her clothes, and out of a sense of modesty a full examination of her body had not been carried out for centuries. The same scientists, however, could find “not a trace of human intervention” on another 13th-century saint and well-known incorruptible in Italy, St. Zita.  

A more recent example of mistaken incorruptibility is that of Blessed Carlo Acutis. Photos of the holy teen caused some confusion online after his body was displayed for public veneration leading up to his beatification in 2020. The bishop of Assisi, Italy, Domenico Sorrentino, clarified that though the body of  Carlo Acutis appeared intact in photos, that was due to the use of a silicone reconstruction of his face; for the body of the blessed had been found in a normal state of decay when exhumed 14 years after his death in 2006.

When the body of Pope St. John XXIII was exhumed in March 2001, it was in good condition, despite the fact that “Good Pope John” had been dead for 37 years. The Pope was exhumed because Pope St. John Paul II decided that his predecessor needed a new resting place to accommodate the large numbers of people who wanted to revere his tomb in the crypt of the Basilica of St. Peter in Rome.

Furthermore, Pope John was on the road to sainthood at the time. And one of the preliminary steps in the canonization process is for the body of the potential saint to be exhumed for suitable identification. Some Catholics wondered if the well preserved condition of the body of Pope John, a divine indicator of his sanctity! With its usual reserve, the Catholic Church did not claim there is anything miraculous about the preservation of the remains of Pope John. They had been probably subjected to a light preservative and were then buried in a lead casket, which was inside two other caskets in a dry tomb. So the normal process of decay could very well have been slowed considerably.

In any case, the Vatican Information Service never used the words “miraculous” or “incorrupt” regarding the body of Pope John XXIII. After the exhumation, the news service headlined its story with great caution, simply stating, “Body of Blessed John XXIII Is Remarkably Well Preserved.”

This is in keeping with the usual Catholic official policy. It does not rule out supernatural occurrences. But neither does it declare an event miraculous until every natural explanation is eliminated. Only then might the popular pope be considered one of the “Incorruptibles.”

© Rev Fr Utazi Prince Marie Benignus Z 

August 1 2023