Pathologist: 'Odor of Sanctity' Surrounds the Remains of Lionheart

Charlier reports on his studies of Richard the Lionheart.

Munich (kath.net/ CBA)  Philippe Charlier (37), doctor and France's most famous pathologist, has made ​​very significant findings in his investigation of  historically significant corpses. So the   heart of the English King Richard the Lionheart (1157-1199), wrapped in linen, has about it an "artificial odor of sanctity", as exuded by martyrs, Charlier told the "Süddeutsche Zeitung" (Thursday). The mixture is apparently  composed of roses, daisies, myrtle, mint, frankincense, tea oil and mercury, maybe a little lime.

He had already smelled such a fragrance on Mount Athos in Greece, added the doctor. "This is a very intense aroma, very pleasant." During his recent visit to Munich, he had viewed the relics in the Church of Our Lady and St. Peter. Some came from the Roman catacombs and had also exuded the fragrance of holiness. 

According to the pathologist, Lionheart, who participated in the Third Crusade, among other things, had  "some problems, considered theologically". In the battles with the French King Philip II. August, many Christians had suffered death. For 33 years Richard would atone in purgatory. Therefore, his body was embalmed accordingly. "That should help him to go directly to heaven." 

His next task will be to examine the remains of the French kings in the Cathedral of Saint Denis, Charlier announced. The tombs have been sealed since 1827. But there should probably bones, skulls and other skeletal parts in the tombs are completely in disarray, because they had been desecrated during the French Revolution in 1789. What had been done to them by the molester, should now be put in order, but the approval for it is difficult, admitted the pathologist, since two families would have to agree. 

Charlier stressed that it was extremely important to him that human remains did not come from the investigations into a museum, but would be buried again. "The best place is where we found them." His relationship to death has not changed by his work with  corpses that he has been doing for nine years, says the pathologist. However, since he has two sons, he thought differently about  death after that, especially as babies and young children. His doctoral thesis on medical ethics have left their mark. Before that, he wanted to examine all the skeletons from all available museums. "Now -- and I'm absolutely not religious -- I think we must respect the will of the dead."

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Pope and Patriarch of Constantinople Will Travel Together to Jerusalem

Pope Francis has accepted the Orthodox Leader’s offer to make a common trip to Jerusalem, in addition  he will publicly visit the See of the Patriarchate in Constantinople.

Athens/Vatican City (kath.net/KNA)  Pope Francis (76) and Bartholomew I (73) of Constantinople will make a common trip to Jerusalem. next year.  The Pope has accepted the corresponding proposal of the Greek Orthodox Head, reports the Greek news site "NewsIt" this Wednesday.  This trip will commemorate the historic meeting between Patriarch Athenagoras and Pope Paul VI. 50 years before.  Their meeting in Jerusalem lead to the lifting of the mutual excommunications, which had stood since the schism of 1054.

At the same time Bartholomew I. invited the Roman Pope according to the report, to visit the Phanar, the seat of the Patriarch in Constantinople.  Francis has also accepted this visit.  An official invitation still has to go through diplomatic channels, it says.  Both Church leaders had met in the context of an ecumenical meeting for the new Pope in the Vatican on Wednesday.

Additionally, the two Church leaders, “NewsIt” says, agreed to develop common initiatives for the protection of the environment.   Patriarch Bartholomew I. urged that Francis and he might go together to open a planned event in 2015 for the defense of creation on Mount Athos.  The outcome should be shown in an exhibition in the Quirinal Palace.

Bartholomew I. is known for his ecological engagement. For this reason, he is also known by the media as the “Green Patriarch”.  Francis had mentioned the protection of the environment in the sermon for his inaugural Mass.  Francis of Assisi (1181/82- 1226), for whom he chose his name, is the Patron Saint of environmentalism.

Initially reported by Rome Reports:

Arrest of Archimandrite Ephrem is a hostile attack against Athonite monks and Orthodoxy

Edit: for years there are forces in Greece that would like to minimize and diminish the influence of the Greek Orthodox Church. One of the most important targets to attack is Mount Athos, for monasticism has always been the living heart of Christian culture and mysticism.

Last week the court ruled to arrest Archimandrite Ephrem, abbot of the Vatopedi Monastery on Mt. Athos, in connection with a large-scale investigation into real estate deals between the Monastery and the Greek State initiated in 2008. On weekend the police came to the Vatopedi Monastery to arrest Fr. Ephrem. After medical doctors had examined the abbot, it was decided to leave him in the Monastery for health reasons. It was reported on Tuesday, however, that Fr Ephrem was arrested and taken away from Mr. Athos.

Metropolitan Hilarion, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate's Department for External Church Relations, gave his appraisal of the actions of the Greek authorities in his short interview to Interfax-Religion.

- Your Eminence, the Greek authorities arrested Archimandrite Ephrem, abbot of the Vatopedi Monastery on Mount Athos, who has recently accompanied the Belt of the Mother of God in Russia. Please, give your comments.

- We do not and can not know all about the charges in abuses in real estate transactions made by the Vatopedi Monastery in the past filed against Fr Ephrem and other persons. Whether these charges are just, the Greek court will decide; we cannot interfere. However, it is quite obvious that detention under remand of Archimandrite Ephrem, who does not pose any danger, without considering the case on its merits and before a court ruling, is an extraordinary action that surprises us deeply. The authorities arrested nobody but the elderly and ailing priest. This ruling arouses grave concern of believers of the Russian Orthodox Church, puts her hierarchs on guard, and makes us ponder over its true reasons.
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Real Monasticism in Greece

Editor: Mount Athos has some of the same problems as St John's Abbey.  There are Marxists on the Holy Mount, Monks with leftist ideologies, but there are also Monks who are serious about living a religious vocation, a quest for God, too.  The Devil can be particularly strong anywhere, especially in a place where men strive like athletes to suffer God's love in the mysteries.

(CBS News) 
On this Easter Sunday, we're going to take you to a place outside our world. It's not Mars or Venus but it might as well be. It's a remote peninsula in northern Greece that millions believe to be the most sacred spot on Earth.
It's called Mount Athos and prayers have been offered there every day, with no interruption, for more than a thousand years. It was set aside by ancient emperors to be the spiritual capital of Orthodox Christianity and has probably changed less over the centuries than any other inhabited place on the planet. The monks come to Mount Athos from all over and do everything they can to keep what they call "the world" far away.

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