Quite obviously, all of these are fake. Wax, plastics, mummifiacation with balms and herbs (the flowery odour, anyone?), modern mummification á la Lenin, saponification, periodical restorations, whatever. Contrary to what some people claim, there have been NO scientific examination performed on any of these bodies, we only have the word of the church on all of this.

Someone has asked if any non-saint non-embalmed corpses have been found “incorruptible”? Yes, they have. (eg. the head of England’s Charles I, Ötzi, prehistoric corpses burried in shallow sand desert graves or in bogs, or even several mammoths in Siberia :p) Unlike the church relics, these remains have been subject to dissection, and it was found out that their preservation in every single case was due to natural causes, iow due to the unusual enviroment the bodies found themselves in after their respective deaths.

I have every reason to believe that these relics have been created by church officials and on purpose. Why else would eg. Saint Bernadette Soubirous be exhumed for no reason at all precisely 30 years after her death? And why precisely this saint and not any other? I think the answer is rather obvious – so that the pre-prepared body can be shown off as “miraculously incorruptible”.

In conclusion, naturally everyone is welcome to believe in these “miracles”, just as everyone is welcome to believe in the Easter Bunny, but please do not force your delusions on other people, or even scold and berate them for being more reasonable and less gullible than you are.

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Fun Fact: My very own great-grand mother, who died of tuberculosis aged 26, was burried in the family crypt in a hermetically sealed tin coffin which has a little glass portion right above her face – and if you peer at her through it, you will see that she still looks the young woman she was at the time of her death some 100 years ago, no signs of decay at all. I suppose an airtight display case would do the trick just as well, no?

Actually, I am fairly certain that most of the bodies on display _are_ in fact mannequins, for a garden variety of precautionary reasons. Also, I have yet to see any treatise on a “scientific examination” of these bodies.

But even if in this one case the church for once had not been lying (unlikely as it is), just because some bodies (maybe) do not show symptoms of decay, doesn’t mean that a miracle occured, or that their previous residents were “saints” in any sense od the word. It just means that we have not yet found out what natural explanation is there behind the fact. Before science has proved otherwise, it was believed that Earth is flat and immovable (both statements largely supported by the Bible) – but now you can look at a globe or consult any elementary school textbook to see how truthful this belief was.

Also the priests who committed fornication, that is a very sad case. Those men did commit sinful actions and the church condemns it. the church never said that priests do not commit sins the only thing that the church certifies as completely right is the beliefs that the church hes declared.

And just an FYI the Catholic Church has never changed any of its beliefs from the time Jesus Died until now.

If you do not believe in the Bible you are a sinner and will be condemned. It is His way of letting you show belief in Him.