THE "MIRACLE" OF THE PRESERVED BODY OF POPE JOHN XXIII

Funeral director Joseph Watts commented to the New York Daily News regarding the pope: “He was embalmed right away. It was done by doctors, nothing but the best, and he was placed in the perfect place, the Catacombs.” According to Watts, who has visited the tomb, the preservation of the pope’s body was probably the result of a number of factors. “The embalming fluid was formaldehyde-based with other chemicals… he was also in a triple-sealed casket… and that was in a marble crypt… There was no water or anything that could disintegrate [the body].” Vincenzo Pascali from the University of Rome said he doesn’t think Pope John’s preservation is unusual: “It’s more common than you might think. The body of the Holy Father was well protected. Oxygen couldn’t get into the coffin and any in there would have been used up very quickly… [in the construction of the caskets] they used materials like lead and zinc which oxidise and slow the decomposition process

John XXIII - An obviously touched up body