-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
While Pope Benedict XVI has long championed organ transplants, he, himself, is not an organ donor. While the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger has possessed an organ donor card since the 1970s when he lived in Germany, that card became null and void when he was elected pope.
I was hoping for a spleen.
Vatican officials say that after a pope dies, his body belongs to the entire Church and must be buried intact. Is there a reason for this policy? I’m glad you asked.
Furthermore, if papal organs were donated, they would become relics in other bodies if he were eventually made a saint.
This is to prevent relic hunters from tracking down the recipient and removing the organ. Makes perfect sense.
H/T: Yahoo News.
I have to say I agree with the “relic hunter” justification – there are some real wackos out there that truly believe that they might get special powers by ripping a saint’s donated heart out of the recipient…
Its a moot point anyway, most Popes are really to old to donate, as the organs and tissues are as old as the donor and do not rejuvenate in a younger recipient.
However it would be nice if the Catholic Church would enter at least the 20th Century.
p.s. ….love the camel jokes 😉
Woosty
Thank you for that link.
Most informative.
Wow, I have tried several posts here with 2 and even one link- no go, it just doesn’t show up.
Thanks for the link Woosty, that’s a very informative site, it pulls all the information together nicely.
“Is it too chauvinistic for me to express that in my opinion available organs should first be reserved for people living here, since the supply of organs is less than the amount of people needing them? ” Mike Spindell 1, February 5, 2011 at 12:24 pm
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Not too chauvanistic at all, I feel the same way. It’s been a good 15years since I worked transplant so I haven’t a clue how they do the procurement process now…and I didn’t know all that much about it then either as I worked w/the patients pre and post transplant. It was probably my favorite job and I can’t tell you how good it felt to see someone who looked grey and listless and depressed 1 minute go to surgery and come out looking alive and vital again…
Here is a site I found on google w/some interesting non-citizen facts…http://www.gsds.org/Talking%20Points
I will have to say that my initial response to Nal’s headline this morning was, “En masse? Burying all the Popes at one time and in one place? That’s going to be very inconvenient to Herr Pope and his soon to be rapid line of successors.”