Embalming

[chicago]

April 8, 2005

BY CATHLEEN FALSANI SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST

VATICAN CITY -- Was he, or wasn't he? Whether Pope John Paul II's body was embalmed -- a little, a lot or not at all -- before it was put on public display is one of the more macabre questions lingering in the aftermath of the 84-year-old pontiff's passing.


Over the past five days, an estimated 2 million people have filed past John Paul's catafalque, which is the proper name for the platform on which his body rests, in St. Peter's Basilica.

Each mourning pilgrim or curious tourist only gets a few seconds in front of the catafalque to pay their respects or take a quick picture.

Chicago's Cardinal Francis George has visited the catafalque at St. Peter's several times since his arrival in Rome on Monday, spending a few minutes in prayer and reflection a few feet away from John Paul's remains each time.

Known for his candor, and occasional bluntness, after his first visit to the catafalque George said the following about the pope's mortal remains: "The person who is there looks like a dead person, and that's good."

"They don't embalm in Italy the way we do, they don't try to make people look as if they're sleeping," George said Wednesday after another visit. "They're not. They're dead. And he looks dead, but at peace. And I think that's a much more realistic way of approaching death."