This is why Benedict must not be embalmed: these striking rules must be observed by the Church when a pope dies

Not exactly for sensitive souls, such a laid-out pope emeritus. Although Benedict XVI was of course seriously ill and already 95 when he passed away last Saturday, his body continues to look strikingly gray and drab. The Vatican does not seem to have put much effort into the revelation, but nothing could be further from the truth. The Church prescribes that many rules must be met when a pope dies. Why should a dead pope only be embalmed ‘lightly’? Where does the ban on organ donation come from? And why is Benedict buried in three coffins?

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