Exploding Chests & Nutmeg Enemas: A Short History of Papal Embalmings
Last week, the world mourned the death of Pope Francis, one of the kindest, coolest, and most unconventional pontiffs in the history of the Roman Catholic Church. Just last year, the Vatican released the Pope’s pared-down plans for his funeral and burial — and like the man himself, they seemed to buck several long-standing traditions. Even the methods used to preserve his body for public display were a little different, but that’s nothing compared to some of the unique, unusual, and downright alarming preservation and embalming techniques used for many of Pope Francis’ predecessors.
Chasing incorruptibility?
The concept of incorruptibility, or the rare and miraculous natural inability of a deceased body to decay, seems to be reserved for saintly souls — like nuns or popes, for example. Throughout history, though, the caretakers of papal remains have used some unusual methods to ensure that the bodies remain intact indefinitely.
According to the University of Bern’s Nikola Tomov, artificial incorruptibility has been the goal of papal embalmers at least since the 12th century. At first, Tomov writes, bodies were cleaned and rubbed with “heated wine, containing aromatic herbs” or copious amounts of balsam and resins, so that when the pope was clothed, the “resin-soaked fabrics [could] preserve at least the shape of the body.”
From about 1590 to 1914, says Tomov, the internal organs of the popes were removed from the body and buried in a separate location. But during the times that evisceration of a pope’s body was considered taboo, embalmers would do their best to expel as much intestinal contents from the body as possible, using, for example, an enema made of “vinegar, rose oil, alum, myrrh, acadia, and nutmeg.” They would then seal all of the body’s orifices with “cotton, wax, incense, and myrrh, aloe, and nutmeg.”
Experimental treatments and astounding exhumations
Tending to the remains of a pope has to put a lot of pressure on the appointed embalmer, especially when both the expectations of indefinite preservation and any requests of the deceased must be met.
In 1958, the papal physician famously wanted so badly for Pope Pius XII’s remains to stay pristine that he invented his own embalming technique — and it went horribly wrong. First, he soaked the pope’s body in oils, then sealed it in cellophane, inadvertently allowing the buildup of gases both outside and inside the body (in which the embalmer had left the organs). After four days on display in the hot Roman summer, the pope’s chest cavity exploded, emitting such a putrid smell that the body’s guards had to be rotated every 15 minutes. His skin soon turned green and his nose and fingers fell off.
Pope John Paul II was opposed to embalming, so his remains were only “prepared” with cosmetics for viewing after his 2005 death. He also asked that a part of his intestines that had been surgically removed be placed in the same church as his body.
In 2001, during John Paul II’s reign, the Vatican opened the coffin of Pope John Paul XXIII in preparation of moving it to another location, finding that his body was remarkably well preserved 38 years after his death. A Vatican spokesman quickly shot down declarations of his incorruptibility, stating that John Paul XXIII’s body had been treated with formalin (formaldehyde and methanol) and buried in a triple-lined coffin that kept out oxygen.
The 1944 exhumation of Pius X isn’t remembered as fondly, however. His untreated remains looked so intact that someone decided to apply a chemical solution to preserve it further, but instead of preserving his condition, the chemical turned his skin brown. Pius X’s remains were then covered in bronze to hide the discoloration.
New school embalming?
In addition to his requests to be displayed and buried in a simpler coffin than previous popes, Pope Francis also asked for what several international outlets are describing as a “less invasive” version of preservation.
According to Euronews and South Asia’s Weekly Voice, Italy, in 2022, passed a law to regulate thanatopraxis, which is “considered a modern evolution of embalming that used less invasive substances that are “more respectful of the human body.” The biggest distinctions, though, seem to be that in this practice, internal organs are not removed and the preservative fluids are not as irritating as formalin and alcohol.
Despite these clarifications in relation to Pope Francis’ preservation, the term “thanatopraxis” is often used interchangeably for traditional embalming. In fact, as our friend Kari the Mortician explained in 2024, “thanatos” is simply an ancient word for death or dead, while “praxis” stands for practice or care — and together, those words simply mean “caring for the dead.”
Andrea Fantozzi, founder of the Italian National Institute of Thanatopraxy, has been the go-to spokesperson for questions about Pope Francis’ preservation. Fantozzi supervised the 2022 embalming of retired pope Benedict XVI, and reportedly did the same for Pope Francis, although he would not confirm this fact.
