Incorruptibility
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Incorruptibility is a Roman Catholic belief that supernatural intervention allows some human bodies to avoid the normal process of decomposition after death. Bodies that reportedly undergo little or no decomposition, or delayed decomposition, and are sometimes referred to as incorrupt or incorruptible (adjective) or as an incorruptible (noun). Although it is recognised as supernatural in Roman Catholicism, it is no longer counted as a miracle in the recognition of a saint.
Incorruptibility is seen as distinct from the good preservation of a body, or mummification. Incorruptible bodies are often said to have the odour of sanctity, exuding a sweet or floral, pleasant aroma. As of yet, none of these cases has been verified scientifically.
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Incorruptibility in Christianity
In Roman Catholicism, if a body remains incorruptible after death, this is generally seen as a sign that the individual is a saint, although not every saint is expected to have an incorruptible corpse.
When the Catholic Church recognized incorruptibles, a body was not deemed incorruptible if it had undergone an embalming. As such, although the body of Pope John XXIII remains in a remarkably intact state, after its exhumation, Church officials quickly pointed out that the Pope's body had been embalmed and that there was a lack of oxygen in his sealed triple coffin.
To the Orthodox Catholic Church, Incorruptibility continues to be an important element for the process of glorification. An important distinction is made between natural mummification and what is believed to be supernatural incorruptibility. For example in The Brothers Karamazov, a fictional novel from 1980 by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, the body of the newly-deceased Starets (monastic elder) Zossima began to decay noticeably even during his funeral wake, which caused a great scandal in his monastery and among the townsfolk, who fully expected that he would be incorrupt.
Causes
The two main positions on incorruptibility can be summarized as an argument for a physical or environmental cause, and an argument for a spiritual cause.
The argument for a physical cause includes a belief that the corpse has been subjected to environmental conditions such that decomposition is significantly slowed. There are a number of ways of retarding decomposition, but the mechanism commonly stated is that of saponification. Another environmental condition that can be the cause of retarding decomposition is a burial ground that is cool and dry. The retardation of decomposition also occurs if the ground is composed of soil that is high in certain compounds that bring the bodies' moisture to the surface of the skin. It is also suggested that bodies with low amounts of muscle and body fat tend to resist decomposition better.
The argument for a spiritual cause may include a belief that the pious nature of the individual in some way permeated the flesh (a metaphysical cause having a physical effect), or a belief that decomposition was prevented by the intervention of God, or some other supernatural agent, as the body will be resurrected later.
Instances of claimed incorruptibility
The saints and other Christian holy men and women whose bodies are said to be or to have been incorrupt have been catalogued in The Incorruptibles: A Study of the Incorruption of the Bodies of Various Catholic Saints and Beati a 1977 book by Joan Carroll Cruz. Claimed incorruptibles include:
Saints
- Saint Agatha
- Saint Agnes of Montepulciano
- Saint Albert the Great
- Saint Alphege of Canterbury
- Saint Andrew Bobola
- Saint Angela Merici
- Saint Anthony Maria Zaccaria
- Saint Antoninus
- Saint Benedict the Moor
- Saint Benezet
- Saint Bernadette Soubirous
- Saint Bernardine of Siena
- Saint Camillus de Lellis
- Saint Catherine Labouré
- Saint Catherine of Bologna
- Saint Catherine of Genoa
- Saint Catherine dei Ricci
- Saint Catherine of Siena
- Saint Charles Borromeo
- Saint Cecilia
- Saint Clare of Montefalco
- Saint Coloman
- Saint Cuthbert
- Saint Didacus of Alcala (San Diego de Alcala)
- Saint Edmund Rich of Canterbury
- Saint Edward the Confessor
- Saint Etheldreda
- Saint Eustochia Calafato
- Saint Frances of Rome
- Saint Francis de Sales
- Saint Francis Xavier
- Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini
- Saint Germaine Cousin
- Saint Guthlac
- Annibale Maria di Francia (Founder of the Rogationist and Daughters of Divine Zeal)
- Saint Herculanus of Piegaro
- Saint Hugh of Lincoln
- Saint Idesbald
- Saint Isidore the Farmer
- Saint Jane Frances de Chantal
- Saint Jean-Marie-Baptiste Vianney (The Curé of Ars)
- Saint Jeanne de Lestonnac
- Saint John Bosco
- Saint John of God
- Saint John of the Cross
- Saint John Southworth
- Saint Josaphat
- Saint Julie Billiart
- Saint Louis Bertrand
- Saint Louise de Marillac
- Saint Lucy Filippini
- Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat
- Saint Margaret of Cortona
- Saint Maria Goretti
- Saint Martin de Porres
- Saint Mary Magdalen de' Pazzi
- Saint Nicholas of Tolentino
- Saint Pacifico of San Severino
- Saint Pascal Baylon
- Saint Peregrine Laziosi
- Saint Philip Neri
- Saint Pierre Julien Eymard
- Saint Pio of Pietrelcina
- Saint Rita of Cascia
- Saint Romuald
- Saint Rose of Lima
- Saint Rose of Viterbo
- Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne
- Saint Sperandia
- Saint Stanislaus Kostka
- Saint Teresa of Avila
- Saint Teresa Margaret of the Sacred Heart (Anna Maria Redi)
- Saint Ubald of Gubbio
- Saint Veronica Giuliani
- Saint Vincent de Paul
- Saint Vincent Pallotti
- Saint Waltheof
- Saint Werburgh
- Saint Withburga
- Saint Wunibald
- Saint Zita
Beati
- Blessed Alphonsus de Orozco
- Blessed Andrew Franchi
- Blessed Angelo of Borgo San Sepolcro
- Blessed Anna Maria Taigi
- Blessed Anthony Bonfadini
- Blessed Antonio Vici (Blessed Anthony of Stroncone)
- Blessed Arcangela Girlani
- Blessed Bernard Scammacca
- Blessed Bertrand of Garrigua
- Blessed Charbel Makhlouf (canonized in 1977, after the book was written)
- Blessed Dominic Barberi
- Blessed Eustochia of Padua
- Blessed Imelda Lambertini
- Blessed Jacinta Marto
- Blessed James de Blanconibus (Blessed James of Bavagna)
- Blessed John of Chiaramonte (Blessed John of Caramola)
- Blessed Lucy of Narni
- Blessed Margaret of Lorraine
- Blessed Margaret of Metola (Blessed Margaret of Citta-di-Castello)
- Blessed Margaret of Savoy
- Blessed Maria Assunta Pallotta
- Blessed Mary Bagnesi
- Blessed Madre María de San José
- Blessed Mattia Nazzarei of Matelica
- Blessed Osanna of Mantua
- Blessed Paula Frassinetti (canonized in 1984, after the book was written)
- Blessed Peter Ghigenzi (Blessed Peter of Gubbio)
- Blessed Sibyllina Biscossi
- Blessed Stephen Nehmé
Venerables
- Venerable Catalina de Cristo
- Venerable John of Jesus Mary
- Venerable Maria Vela
- Venerable María de Jesús de Ágreda
References
- The Incorruptibles: A Study of the Incorruption of the Bodies of Various Catholic Saints and Beati, by Joan Carroll Cruz, OCDS, TAN Books, June 1977. ISBN 0-89555-066-0.