-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger

While Pope Benedict XVI has long championed organ transplants, he, himself, is not an organ donor. While the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger has possessed an organ donor card since the 1970s when he lived in Germany, that card became null and void when he was elected pope.

I was hoping for a spleen.

Vatican officials say that after a pope dies, his body belongs to the entire Church and must be buried intact. Is there a reason for this policy? I’m glad you asked.

Furthermore, if papal organs were donated, they would become relics in other bodies if he were eventually made a saint.

This is to prevent relic hunters from tracking down the recipient and removing the organ. Makes perfect sense.

H/T: Yahoo News.

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