Religion

Pope Must Be Buried En Masse

-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.

27 thoughts on “Pope Must Be Buried En Masse”

  1. raff,

    Fixed?

    Only if you don’t consider escaping prosecution for aiding and abetting child molesters as a miracle.

  2. Mike S.,
    Congrats on your successful transplant and your report on how the process works. I learned a lot from it. Hang in there.
    Nal,
    This business about the Pope having to stay intact is hilarious. Who the heck is going to want this loser, even if he does become a Saint? And if he becomes a Saint, then you know it is a fixed system.

  7. HenMan,

    The camel, looking up at his reflection in the bar mirror sighs, “Well barkeep, I picked up this here bedouin,” with a nod towards his companion, “on my way to Vegas …..

  8. Blouise-

    …Woosty walks to the end of the bar to take their orders. He sees the camel and says,”Why the long face, Pal?”

  9. Mike, I recently read an article about Steve Jobs liver transplant. He didn’t do anything illegal or underhanded to get one quickly. It’s just the country is divided up in districts where people can register. That includes physical visits. Most people can’t afford to travel the Country to register everywhere. Being rich does help you game the system.

  11. Woosty,

    When a transplant occurs, can you confirm that the hospital that harvests the organs for transplant have absolutely nothing to say about who the recipient will be.

    I think the way it works in Europe, is that the information goes to an independent board or group and they and only they decide who will receive the organs.

    Is that true in US or do the doctors who harvest the organs chose who receives them?

    I am really ignorant on this kind of procedure.

    Thanks

  14. Woosty,
    After reading your comment I must say that I am surprised, but not at all shocked given what I know about the ways of the world.
    Being a recent transplant recipient I’ve learned a lot (actually my wife did the research and informed me)about the system. In the US it is governed by a system called UNOS to ensure that only those with the most pressing need (and adequate chance of success)receive priority for available organs. 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?

    The process is a crap-shoot and I threw a seven, thanks to my wife’s research as to the hospital with the shortest waiting list and yet among the highest success rates. I’m living on a moderate fixed income and have no rich relatives so the outcome of whether I received one or not, was based on need, blood type, potential matches (height, weight, etc.)and general physical strength beyond that which was affected by the failing organ.

    While for most in need the process appears to be a fair one, minus those disgusting cases where people are excluded due to lack of adequate health insurance, I often speculated that if I was Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and/or a political bigwig the fairness of the process might be ignored. Your comment illustrates that indeed this might be true.

    Irrational and pre-judgmental as my feelings may be, I resent that people can come here from other lands and get an organ, bypassing the priority system we supposedly have in place. Too many people here, perhaps even more worthy than myself, lose
    their lives due to lack of organ availability. However, it seems that like in all things human, wealth, connections and power skip to the front of the line.

  16. Woosty’s still a Cat,

    What a missed opportunity … you could have started a camel farm and become a military contractor!

  17. I worked transplant for years. We had a lot of clients from the Arab countries as it was anti-cultural to them to do transplants in their own country. So they would come to the USA, get their organs, go home….all paid for very generously by their government. I thought it very strange, …on the plus side, 1 of my pts (a bedouin) offerred to buy me for a camel and a fairly large number of sheep. (and if I agreed…I could always ride in the truck and never have to walk behind the truck with the other wives….;)

    !he also used the drinking fountain in the hall as a urinal…

  19. This is a fallacy….the organs are tissue….its the bones hat one must worry about being stolen….but who were, was or are the biggest thieves to begin with….

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