Catholic World News relays news of Polish church officials as saying they would like the heart of the late John Paul brought to his old Wawel cathedral in Krakow as a relic (seriously first class) if–er, when–the Polish pope is beatified. (Others say a small piece of the pope’s heart, or other body part, would suffice.) This come as Vatican officials are talking about building a grander tomb for the pope in St. Peter’s Basilica, despite the pontiff’s explicit wishes that he buried “in the earth,” as he is now, in the basilica’s crypt. Pope’s are all-powerful when alive. Not so when dead. The heart transplant stories will generate all manner of “yech” reactions. Yet such was always Catholic tradition, that a relic, a piece of a saint, be part of the altar of a church. Liposuction is truly ghastly, and that doesn’t stop anyone…

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