McClatchy DC Logo

Family noted for embalming popes not involved this time | McClatchy Washington Bureau

×
    • Customer Service
    • Mobile & Apps
    • Contact Us
    • Newsletters
    • Subscriber Services

    • All White House
    • Russia
    • All Congress
    • Budget
    • All Justice
    • Supreme Court
    • DOJ
    • Criminal Justice
    • All Elections
    • Campaigns
    • Midterms
    • The Influencer Series
    • All Policy
    • National Security
    • Guantanamo
    • Environment
    • Climate
    • Energy
    • Water Rights
    • Guns
    • Poverty
    • Health Care
    • Immigration
    • Trade
    • Civil Rights
    • Agriculture
    • Technology
    • Cybersecurity
    • All Nation & World
    • National
    • Regional
    • The East
    • The West
    • The Midwest
    • The South
    • World
    • Diplomacy
    • Latin America
    • Investigations
  • Podcasts
    • All Opinion
    • Political Cartoons

  • Our Newsrooms

Latest News

Family noted for embalming popes not involved this time

Ken Dilanian - Knight Ridder Newspapers

    ORDER REPRINT →

April 04, 2005 03:00 AM

ROME—For many years, when popes died, the Signoraccis embalmed them.

The family, which dates its mortuary experience back to 1870, handled the preservation arrangements for Pope John XXIII in 1963, Paul VI in 1978 and John Paul I, also in 1978.

But this time the request didn't come. "It's tradition—we're surprised," said Massimo Signoracci, a member of the latest generation to run the family mortuary. "They must have called someone else, someone from outside, because I am the only one in Rome."

The Vatican has said nothing about the subject.

SIGN UP

The Signoraccis have handled the bodies of some of the most important people in Rome. In addition to the three popes, the family took care of the body of Aldo Moro, the former prime minister who was kidnapped by terrorists and found murdered in the trunk of a car in Rome in 1978, and the former King Farouk of Egypt, who died in exile in Rome in 1965.

But the family's relationship with the Vatican conveyed a special prestige—though not without glitches.

Pope Paul VI's body, for example, began to decompose as it lay in state in the heat of August 1978. "The features became less sharp and the face took on a greenish tinge," according to an Associated Press report at the time.

The Signoraccis were also in the middle of a controversy over the death of Pope John Paul I in 1978 that spawned a theory that he'd been murdered.

An Italian news report, apparently erroneous, suggested that they'd been called to the Vatican an hour before the pope had died. The report fueled visions of a dark conspiracy.

Two elderly Signoracci brothers, both now dead, came across as deeply befuddled about the time and sequence of events when interviewed by author John Cornwell for "A Thief in the Night," a 1989 book that debunks the murder theory.

Cornwell eventually concluded that John Paul I died of natural causes that could have been prevented had he had better medical care and that the Vatican's failure to provide timely and accurate information contributed to the conspiracy theories.

"Listen," Ernesto Signoracci told Cornwell at one point, "we're a bit confused about the times and the hours because we've been fixing up the corpses of popes since John XXIII."

But not this time.

———

(Dilanian reports for The Philadelphia Inquirer.)

———

(c) 2005, Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.

Need to map

  Comments  

Videos

Democrats announce Green New Deal

Sen. McConnell says Trump will sign spending bill and declare a national emergency

View More Video

Trending Stories

Trump slams California’s ‘fast train’ as Gavin Newsom leads 16 states suing over border wall

February 19, 2019 10:46 AM

Stacey Abrams appearance at voting rights hearing has political overtones, GOP says

February 19, 2019 10:20 AM

Texas GOP searches for candidate to take on Colin Allred

February 19, 2019 05:00 AM

‘It is time to complete that revolution’: Sanders says he’s running for president

February 19, 2019 07:00 AM

Operative at center of NC election fraud hearing won’t testify

February 18, 2019 02:16 PM

Read Next

VP Mike Pence plans visit to South Carolina to tour Opportunity Zones with Tim Scott

Congress

VP Mike Pence plans visit to South Carolina to tour Opportunity Zones with Tim Scott

By Emma Dumain

    ORDER REPRINT →

February 19, 2019 05:22 PM

Vice President Mike Pence will be in Columbia, S.C., on Thursday to tour an “Opportunity Zone” with the program’s champion, South Carolina Republican U.S. Sen. Tim Scott.

KEEP READING

MORE LATEST NEWS

Congress

Stacey Abrams appearance at voting rights hearing has political overtones, GOP says

February 19, 2019 10:20 AM
On offshore drilling, Mark Sanford and Joe Cunningham find their legacies are linked

Congress

On offshore drilling, Mark Sanford and Joe Cunningham find their legacies are linked

February 15, 2019 05:00 AM
McConnell’s opposition to Green New Deal comes as he backs coal

Congress

McConnell’s opposition to Green New Deal comes as he backs coal

February 15, 2019 02:10 PM
Hawley fights subpoena: ‘The judicial process does not exist to harass public servants’

Congress

Hawley fights subpoena: ‘The judicial process does not exist to harass public servants’

February 15, 2019 10:35 AM
U.S. House committee advances bill to close ‘Charleston loophole’

Congress

U.S. House committee advances bill to close ‘Charleston loophole’

February 13, 2019 09:20 PM
Accusations of socialism drive GOP’s 2019 (and 2020) playbook

Congress

Accusations of socialism drive GOP’s 2019 (and 2020) playbook

February 13, 2019 12:00 AM
Take Us With You

Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand.

Icon for mobile apps

McClatchy Washington Bureau App

View Newsletters

Subscriptions
  • Newsletters
Learn More
  • Customer Service
  • Securely Share News Tips
  • Contact Us
Advertising
  • Advertise With Us
Copyright
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service


Back to Story