My Parents Just Got Back From Rome....Some Questions.

I'm not sure if this has been discussed before, as I had done a search for this same topic.

My parents arrived back from Rome the other day and had visited the Sistine Chapel/St. Peters Square. I asked my mother if she had viewed the final resting place of former Pope John Paul II. According to the authorities at the vatican, the Pope's final resting place is not able to be viewed by the public. Why is this? Other saints/popes final resting places are able to be visited by the public, why not John Paul II?

Do I smell a conspiracy? Maybe he is still alive? Or am I just making crazy assumptions?

Originally posted by jeepin4x4girl
I'm not sure if this has been discussed before, as I had done a search for this same topic.

My parents arrived back from Rome the other day and had visited the Sistine Chapel/St. Peters Square. I asked my mother if she had viewed the final resting place of former Pope John Paul II. According to the authorities at the vatican, the Pope's final resting place is not able to be viewed by the public. Why is this?

Why should it be?

Other saints/popes final resting places are able to be visited by the public, why not John Paul II?

Not all are available. JPII is buried in a room with lots of other popes that is underground. Its not part of the 'tour'. His unembalmed body was on display for a while, and then intered. If he becomes a saint, he might get disintered and buried elsehwere.

Do I smell a conspiracy? Maybe he is still alive? Or am I just making crazy assumptions?

The gravesite was open to the public for sometime after the burial. Maybe they've closed it now...

Originally posted by djohnsto77
The gravesite was open to the public for sometime after the burial. Maybe they've closed it now...

Yes, thats what I thought as well.

It is true that the body is intered not embalmed in what is described as a simple wooden casket.
Popes are not buried in the earth but in a marble tomb that is not airtight by any means.
I think it is good that, that area is not part of the typical tour. It may be rather odeferous for a while.

[edit on 13-5-2005 by freddieb]

No conspiracy here.
Typical happenings.
The tomb, and even the tombs of toher deadpast Popes, are closed to viewing periodically, for cleaning and maintenance purposes.
This photo was taken mid-April:


John Paul II's tomb opens for public viewing

Anyone that assumes that Pope John Paul II is not dead is in major error. To assume this is to literally say that those 2 million plus people who did view him in his tomb are lying and what they saw was an illusion. Also, the Catholic Church does not make an "alive" person a Saint, either. Hello?!






seekerof

[edit on 13-5-2005 by Seekerof]