When Pope Pius XII’s nose fell off it was awkward, both because the pope’s body had been put on public display and because the embalmer was none other than Pius’s own doctor. Many had been suspicious of Pius’s choice of medic: he was, they felt, a quack. Pius ignored them. A pope, after all, is infallible.
Pius might have been. His doctor clearly was not. Quickly Pius’s skin turned blue-green. Then it ruptured. Then his nose fell off. The smell became so bad the body had to be covered in cellophane. A Swiss Guard watching over the corpse collapsed.
