I was wondering about what happens when Pope Benedict dies. Will he be buried with the same honors as a reigning Pope would get? Or will he be given just an ordinary funeral of a Vatican priest? Anyone know?

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He will be interred at the same grotto as all the other Popes when he dies. Interesting thing about that grotto...

The grotto is beneath St Peter's Basilica and it has large deposits of lime, which is a natural decomposition aid for dead bodies. Almost all the Popes are Sainted. The first step in sainthood is beatification. One of the requirements of beatification is that the deceased body shows signs of no or very slow decomposure after two years.

It's kind of funny how they set the popes up to fail the first test of beatification.

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Isn't the Pope buried in three coffins - lead, copper and zinc? That would stop decomposition easily, once they installed the vault around the grave. Also, the deceased Pope's usually lie in state outdoors on the plaza at St.Peter''s for three days. That requires continuous embalming which would further aid in keeping the body from decomposing.......Stan

Some are interred that way and some are not. Mind you, an incorruptible corporeal form is not always necessary but it pretty much assures that beatification will occur.

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Say "what" one mo' goddamned time. I dare ya. I double dog dare ya.

However, Abraham Lincoln would have passed! They were just fine tuning embalming methods and for the long train ride back he was embalmed like 17 times or some crazy number. Many years later when they moved his body they wanted to make sure a robber hadn't stolen the body so they opened up the container and he looked virtually as he did the day he died though witnesses vary their accounts of his color being pale or very dark.

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This is referring to Pope John Paul's coffins

The innermost casket--the one in which his body lay during his funeral--was made of cypress wood. That casket was placed inside a second casket made of zinc (traditionally, lead was used), presumably to seal the body from the ravages of insects. The third, outermost casket was made of walnut wood (the traditional wood was elm).

Papal Bonesmen

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Sometimes by losing a battle you find a new way to win the war.

Donald Trump