Molesting the Dead.

Manawatu Standard, Volume X, Issue 71, 22 August 1885, Page 3

Molesting the Dead.

The Starnpa, a prominent Italian Liberal journal, tells the followingstrange story :— Oh the night between 17th and 20th of May the old church of Sta Maria de Gradi, m the city of Viterbo was entered by the Secretary, to the Municipality, the city engineer, and a band of workmen. -They proceeded to thetombof Pope dnirent IV., whose body had Tbeen. laid m a warble sarcophagus m the church since" his death, m 1260. The sarcophagus was. opened, '. and-an.inner 'icoftnf of wood was found. Upon opening this they found the remains m a fair state of preservation, and clad m the vestments of the Papal rank. They did not touch anything, but closed both coffin and sarcophagus. Next morning they returned, accompanied by the siridico of the, city and the sub-Per-fect of ?he district. The corpse was then taken out of the coffin, the ring,, m which there, was a precious stone, was f taken off the finger, the richly-em-broidered silk gloves and sandals were torn off. The agraffe which was richly ornamented with precious stones, was cut out ; and those portions of the cope, -which was of gorgeous Workmanship and m good preservation, were cut away. The remains were then huddled m a box and sent off to the municipal buildings ; the articles that had been removed were, according to the sindico, to be placed m the museum of Viterbo. The Starnpa observes that if a poor man's grave were thiiß violated the law would give some months' imprisonment to the criminals. "Will not the same measure be given to the disturbers of a Pope's tomb,. which is one of Italy's historic monuments? And it calls on all the newspapers of the peninsula to publish the outrage,nnd bring public opinion to demand the punishment pf^eprincjjwlp, whoever they may