In line with Catholic doctrine embracing the noble and charitable nature of organ donation and transplantation, the most recent popes have been enthusiastic supporters of the practice. Pope Francis has called it “a testimony of love for our neighbor.” His predecessors, Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, were also in favor of organ donation, provided it was carried out ethically and without commercialization.
In fact, Pope Benedict XVI formerly carried an organ donor card back when he was Joseph Ratzinger. The card was reportedly issued in the 1970s and remained valid when he became a cardinal. However, in 2011, the Vatican clarified that upon Cardinal Ratzinger becoming pope in 2005 (and choosing the papal name Benedict XVI), the rules of Catholicism effectively invalidated the card. In response to a German medical campaign that mentioned Benedict XVI’s organ donor status, the pope’s secretary and other Vatican spokespeople commented that his election to the papacy had changed things.
According to the officials, the pope’s body would need to be kept intact so that it could be venerated after his death in case of sainthood. If any organs had been transplanted into a living recipient, potential complications could arise. Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski, then the head of the Vatican’s health office, further clarified by stating that the pope’s body essentially belonged to the universal Catholic Church and would need to be buried intact.
Citing his deteriorating strength and advanced age, Benedict XVI resigned from the papacy in 2013, becoming the first pope to do so since 1415. He held the title “Pope emeritus” until his death on December 31, 2022, at age 95. He was buried five days later in the crypt of Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City.
Organ donors in spirit:
- Pope John Paul II (whose papacy lasted from 1978 to 2005) described organ donation as a beautiful act when “performed in an ethically acceptable manner, with a view to offering a chance of health and even of life itself to the sick who sometimes have no other hope.”
- Until Pope Pius X abolished the custom in the early 20th century, removing the organs of a pope after his death used to be commonplace to improve the durability of the embalming process. The organs were venerated as relics at the Church of Santi Vincenzo e Anastasio in Rome.
- The internal organs of 22 popes are preserved at the church, located near the Trevi Fountain, from Sixtus V, who died in 1590, to Leo XIII, who died in 1903.
