Doctor Who

"Upon the death of Pope Pius XII [in 1958], his personal physician, the quack, Dr. Galeazzi-Lisi, presented himself to the dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals, the French Cardinal Eugene Tisserant . . . and obtained permission to treat the late pontiff's remains. In an uncharacteristically uncritical move, Tisserant agreed to allow the physician to spray the papal corpse with a compound of resins, oils, and other chemicals which were supposed to produce a 'deoxidizing process' and prevent decay. The results were disastrous. The body decayed almost immediately and such a stench arose that the casket had to be lined with cellophane.

"During the transfer of the body back to Rome [from Castel Gadalfo] the hearse had to make repeated stops as its drivers were overcome by the odor emanating from the casket. During a stop at the St. John Lateran Basilica for a brief service, the seals on the casket exploded loudly just as the vice-gerent of Rome, the future Cardinal Luigi Traglia, intoned the ancient prayer, . . . 'May the angels lead you into paradise.' The pressure from the pope's badly embalmed body had blown the seals. Once the body reached the Vatican, artists were summoned to hastily make up the deteriorating remains so that they might be laid out in state." (from John-Peter Pham, "Heirs of the Fisherman")