Question - What's the Catholic Church to do when the exhumed dead body of a "saint" isn't in good shape?

Answer – They hire a company like Gems Studio of London, which does work for Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum!!

This was reported in the April 24 Catholic News Service article titled, "Cardinal: Relic of Padre Pio Reminds Catholics Saints were People."

"Padre Pio" (real name Francesco Forgione 1887-1968) was an Italian priest who had the "stigmata" - bleeding hands and feet - and was named a "Saint" by John Paul II in 2002. Catholics attribute these wounds to some sort of "holiness," whereas in reality it was nothing more than psychosomatically induced self-mutilation in order to achieve some personal fame and notoriety.

To commemorate the 40 years since his death, the church at San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy wants to display Padre Pio's corpse in a new, crystal tomb. The body was dug up March 2 and, "Was in fair condition, although the skull and parts of the upper body showed serious decay."

Bummer!! A corpse looking like that won't bring in the tourist money! So, what did the Catholic Church decide to do? They "Hired Gems Studio, a London-based firm that makes figures for Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum, to create a silicon mask – including a short moustache and ample beard – for the body."

Well......It looks like "Padre Pio" will join other Gems Studio wax creations such as John Wayne, Emperor Franz Joseph, and Mozart.

Gems also does something called animatronics – it's where the wax figure can actually move and talk! As a matter of fact, the London Madame Tussaud's museum has an animatronic figure of comedian Jim Carrey presently on display. There's been no word if Padre Pio's mask will talk or not.

Once again we see this weird Catholic fascination with dead bodies; it's actually quite macabre when you think about it. Please pray daily for Catholic conversions, as only the power of Christ can free people from such a system.