Editing Pope Pius XII (section)

===Botched embalming===
[[File:Tumulo pio xii.jpg|thumb|''The Pope of Mary'': A [[Madonna and Child]], added by John Paul II in 1982, hangs over the tomb of Pius XII.]]
Pius XII's physician, [[Riccardo Galeazzi-Lisi]], reported that the pontiff's body was embalmed in the room where he died using a novel process invented by Oreste Nuzzi.<ref name=ModernMummies>{{cite book|title=Modern Mummies|first=Christine|last=Quigley|year=1998|url=https://archive.org/details/modernmummiespre0000chri |publisher=McFarland & Co.|isbn=978-0-7864-0492-6|page=204}}</ref>

Pope Pius XII did not want the vital organs removed from his body, demanding instead that it should be kept in the same condition "in which God created it".<ref name="AP 11Oct58"/> According to Galeazzi-Lisi, this was the reason why he and Nuzzi, an embalmer from [[Naples]], used an atypical approach with the embalming procedure.<ref name="AP 11Oct58"/> In a controversial press conference, Galeazzi-Lisi described in great detail the embalming of the body of the late pontiff. He claimed to have used the same system of oils and resins with which the body of Jesus Christ was preserved.<ref name="AP 11Oct58">{{cite news |title=Embalming of Pope Pius Like That of the Christ |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/spokane-chronicle-embalming-of-pope-pius/171089262/ |access-date=25 April 2025 |work=Spokane Chronicle |agency=[[Associated Press]] |date=11 October 1958 |pages=6}}</ref>{{clarify|date=July 2017}}

Galeazzi-Lisi asserted that the new process would "preserve the body indefinitely in its natural state".<ref name=ModernMummies/> However, whatever chance the new embalming process had of efficaciously preserving the body was obliterated by intense heat in [[Castel Gandolfo]] during the embalming process. As a result, the body decomposed rapidly and the viewing of the faithful had to be terminated abruptly.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Peleschuk |first1=Dan |title=The Man Who Made the Pope Explode |url=https://www.ozy.com/true-and-stories/the-man-who-made-the-pope-explode/94408/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926084705/https://www.ozy.com/true-and-stories/the-man-who-made-the-pope-explode/94408/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=26 September 2020 |website=Ozy.com |date=26 May 2019 |publisher=OZY |access-date=30 August 2021 }}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=April 2025}}

Galeazzi-Lisi reported that heat in the halls where the body of the late pope lay in state caused chemical reactions which required it to be treated twice after the original preparation.<ref name="AP 11Oct58"/> Others describe Galeazzi and Nuzzi "crawling over the catafalque in the dead of night... to renew their embalming".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Land, S.J. |first1=Philip S. |title=How Pius XII Died |journal=America Magazine |date=8 November 1958 |page=162 |url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f6h&AN=35444452&site=eds-live&scope=site |access-date=25 April 2025}}</ref> [[Swiss guard]]s stationed around Pius XII's body were reported to have become ill during their vigil, and the body of the pope reportedly turned "emerald green".<ref name=ModernMummies/><ref>{{cite news |title=Preservation of popes after death marked by secrecy |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-apr-07-fg-embalmer7-story.html |access-date=25 April 2025 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=7 April 2005 |last=King|first=Laura}}</ref> However, other sources indicate it was the smell of the chemicals and resins that caused the eyes of the [[Noble Guard]] to water.<ref>{{cite news |title=Embalming a Pope |url=https://www.newspaperarchive.com/us/new-york/ogdensburg/ogdensburg-advance-news/1958/10-26/page-7 |access-date=25 April 2025 |work=Ogdensburg Advance News |date=26 October 1958 |page=4}}</ref>