Explainer: Why Incorruptibility Is Important To Catholics
Thousands of people have spent the last few weeks waiting in line, some for hours at a time, in a small Missouri town to see a nun whose body has barely decomposed since she died in 2019 at the age of 95.
Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster’s body was exhumed nearly two months ago, according to the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, in Gower, Missouri. The nuns were preparing “the reinterment of the remains of our beloved foundress, Sister Wilhelmina,” according to a statement put out by the sisters, so that they could be added to a shrine.
When they exhumed Lancaster’s body on April 28, the nuns had expected to find her skeletal remains since she had been buried in a wooden coffin without any embalming. Instead, they found an intact body with Lancaster still wearing her black habit.
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Soon, the town of 1,500 residents found themselves swamped with pilgrims from across the country. The monastery said Lancaster's body will now be placed in a glass case inside their church so visitors can still see the body and take dirt from her grave, but will no longer be allowed to touch her.
The discovery has become an international story over the last two weeks. While some have acknowledged that this is an holy event, Sky News reported the body's lack of decomposition might not be that rare.
Catholic officials said an investigation is underway.
“The condition of the remains of Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster has understandably generated widespread interest and raised important questions,” the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph said in a statement. “At the same time, it is important to protect the integrity of the mortal remains of Sister Wilhelmina to allow for a thorough investigation.”
The diocese added that “incorruptibility has been verified in the past, but it is very rare. There is a well-established process to pursue the cause for sainthood, but that has not been initiated in this case yet.”
What is incorruptibility?
Incorruptibility is a Catholic and Eastern Orthodox belief that divine intervention has allowed for some human bodies — specifically those of saints — to avoid the normal natural process of decomposition as a sign of one’s holiness.
Incorruptibility is thought to occur even in the presence of factors that normally hasten decomposition and is considered a supernatural occurrence. Embalmed bodies are not recognized in this case. This was the cases of saints Cecilia, Catherine of Genoa, Francis Xavier Cabrini, Catherine Laboure and Padre Pio. Past popes, such as Blessed Pope Pius IX, St. Pius X and St. John XXIII are also considered incorrupt.
In Catholicism, if a body is judged as incorruptible after death, this is most often seen as a sign that the individual is a saint. Canon law allows inspection of the body so relics can be taken and sent to the Vatican.
A pontifical commission, a committee of Catholic experts convened by the pope for a specific reason, can authorize inspection of the relics and demand a written report. Catholic law allows saints to be buried under an altar so Mass can be celebrated above them.
Is there a difference between incorrupt and incorruptible?
The words are used interchangeably — yet they mean different things, according to ChurchPOP.
In this context, “incorrupt” means the preservation of a deceased body from natural decay. “Incorruptible” means not susceptible to corruption such as bribery, the website noted. Incorruptible is also linked to the Pauline theology of the body with regard to the resurrection of the dead.
St. John Paul II, when he was pope, said the following:
In the resurrection the human body, according to the words of the Apostle, is seen "incorruptible, glorious, full of dynamism, spiritual." The resurrection is not only a manifestation of the life that conquers death — almost a final return to the tree of life, from which man had been separated at the moment of original sin — but is also a revelation of the ultimate destiny of man in all the fullness of his psychosomatic nature and his personal subjectivity.
Catholic News Agency reported that Sister Wilhelmina’s features “were clearly recognizable; even her eyebrows and eyelashes were still there, the sisters discovered. Not only that, but her Hanes-brand socks, her brown scapular, Miraculous Medal, rosary beads, profession candle, and the ribbon around the candle — none of it had deteriorated.”
Are all incorrupt bodies considered saints?
Not necessarily. Sister Wilhelmina is not a saint and many may never be. Some Buddhists and Jews also claim that this process can occur. They, too, wouldn’t be considered for sainthood under Catholic and Orthodox tradition.
Joan Carroll Cruz’s 2021 book,“The Incorruptibles: A Study of the Incorruption of the Bodies of Various Catholic Saints and Beati,” notes that there are about 100 incorrupt saints that the Catholic Church officially recognizes.
Throughout church history, the bodies of saints have been moved, very often for the sole purpose of placing them in more prestigious sites. It’s during this process that some have defied decomposition.
An explanation of incorruptibility is not found in the Bible. But St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:42 says: “So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown corruptible; it is raised incorruptible.”
Clemente Lisi is a senior editor at Religion Unplugged and teaches journalism at The King’s College in New York City. He is the author of “The FIFA World Cup: A History of the Planet’s Biggest Sporting Event.” Follow him on Twitter @ClementeLisi.