REMEMBERING JOHN PAUL II

NOT TRUE THAT JP-II'S BODY
WILL BE TRANSFERRED
TO MAIN FLOOR OF ST. PETER'S
Translated from the
Italian service of




Fr. Federico Lombardi, Vatican press director, denied conclusively in a note this morning "what was reported this morning in a Turin newspaper [La Stampa] that the remains of John Paul II will be transferred from the Vatican grottoes to the main floor of St. Peter's Basilica."

He said: "I can deny definitely that there was any committee presided by Cardinal Angelo Comastri which took such a decision."

He added that it was equally "unfounded to speak of an involvement of the Vatican gendarmerie", explaining that "there will be no decision on such a transfer before beatification."

"Therefore," he said, "anything stated in the article is mere speculation, and discussion of the subject is absolutely premature."


ADNKronos, quoting TG1, the premier newscast of italian state TV's first channel, had reported this earlier:


ROME, March 29 (Translated from ADNKronos) - The remains of Pope John Paul II will be transferred to the Vatican Basilica's chapel of St. Sebastian, next to the Pieta chapel, to the right of the main entrance to the Church, TG-1 announced as an 'exclusive' today.

TG-1 said that the transfer would also involve a determination whether the remains could be exposed openly [under glass].

The Pope, who died on April 2, 2005, is entombed in the Vaticna grottoes, along with other deceased Pontiffs, under a marble slab. The remains could be transferred after he is beatified, as was the case with Blessed John XXIII, who is exposed under glass.