Pope John's Body Looks Like He 'Died Yesterday'

Updated 10:48 AM ET March 27, 2001 By Philip Pullella
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - A leading cardinal present when the coffin of Pope John XXIII was opened after 38 years said Tuesday the Pontiff looked as if he had "died yesterday."
"None of the body had decomposed," said Cardinal Virgilio Noe, the high priest of St. Peter's Basilica who oversaw the opening of the coffin in order to prepare removal of the tomb to a new space more accessible to pilgrims.
Italian media reports at the weekend said only John's face was intact but Noe, who attended the exhumation with other Vatican officials on January 16, said the entire body was uncorrupted by time.
"It was as if he died yesterday," he told Reuters on the sidelines of a news conference to present a book on the papal tombs in St. Peter's.
"He looked tranquil. His mouth was slightly open but he was certainly tranquil. The serenity he had in life, he took with him to his death and he still had it 38 years later," Noe said.
John XXIII, who reigned from 1958 to 1963, was known as the "Good Pope" because of his benevolent and jovial nature. He made ecclesiastical history by convening the Second Vatican Council.

Pope John XXIII: Body to be on display on June 3 at the Vatican.

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