As soon as the coffin opens, the stench made the guards back. In the center of the Basilica of San Pedro, the body of the Pío Pius XII He had swollen, deformed and began to crack like a watermelon in the sun. It was not necessary to touch it to notice that something inside was accumulating violently. Then, the chest exploded.
It was not an explosion in a technical sense, but it was enough to generate panic, close the burning chapel and completely ruin the funeral. This was the direct consequence of disobey your last will: Do not be embalmed.
The papal will ignored on behalf of a doubtful science
Although the attention is currently at the funeral of the Pope Francisdied this past Easter at 88 after a cerebral strokememories of other less sober papal burials have resurfaced.
In life, Jorge Mario Bergoglio He left precise instructions: without embalming, austere ceremony and simple grave in the basilica of Santa María la Mayor. Your will will be respected. You can’t say the same as Eugenio Pacelli, better known as Pius XII.
On October 9, 1958, the Pope died in Castel Gandolfo, but his body was not treated with the usual methods. Your personal doctor, Riccardo Galeazzi-Lisi, convinced the papal environment that he had developed a Alternative technique based on practices of primitive and Egyptian Christians. He baptized her as aromatic osmosis.
According to his approach, he did not require organ extraction or refrigeration, only one Mixture of oils, herbs and cellophane. Pius XII had left clear instructions so that Your body is not embalmedand the doctor presented his method as an alternative that respected that will.
Instead of stopping the decompositionthe experiment accelerated it. A few hours after, the body already presented a greenish tone and such a penetrating smell that caused fainting among the guards that guarded the coffin. While the body was still exposed near San Pedro, October temperatures in Italy and lack of ventilation increased internal pressure. The sealed cellophane prevented the gases from leaving. When finally chest burst insidethose responsible for the funeral were forced to improvise an urgent solution.
A hidden camera and unforgivable betrayal
To avoid showing the damaged face of the Pontiff, doctors opted for cover it with a wax mask. Also They raised the coffin so that the faithful did not get too close. The ceremony was cut, and the buried remains as soon as possible In the Vatican Grutas. Everything managed with discretion, but it was too late.
The scandal did not end at the funeral. Days later, it was learned that Galeazzi-Lisi had Hidden a camera under his jacket during the agony of the Pope and had captured Images of the Pontiff on his death bed. Several media would have offered large amounts of money for those photographs. When the news became public, the Vatican reacted bluntly. The doctor He was expelled from the Holy See and suspended from the Medical College of Rome.
This episode was more than a grotesque anecdote. Marked a turning point in the way the Vatican manages papal deaths. Since then, the protocol became stricterand the professionals involved are subject to a much more rigorous control. No one in Rome wants to relive such a funeral.
The grotesque end of a controversial pontificate
Pius XII, who had led the church during World War II – with a lot most surreal stories of the twentieth century.
His body exploded in full funeral because of a procedure that should never have been approved. The dignity he sought to preserve was betrayed by those who, with alleged good intentions, decided to ignore their last request.
Currently, while the cameras closely follow Francisco’s burial, that episode serves as an example of what happens when faith runs into medical negligence. Nothing to do with the serenity of the current Vatican. No one forgets that, in 1958, a Pope’s body broke down so quickly that the funeral had to adapt to rot.
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