A nun whose body has barely decayed since her death has unintentionally attracted hundreds to the site of her burial in a small US town.
People from all over the US travelled to Gower, Missouri, to witness the body of Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster – unexpectedly found intact after being exhumed in April by nuns of the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles order.
The visitors were able to see and touch her corpse which has hardly decomposed since her burial in 2019.
They were also allowed to take a teaspoon of dirt from her grave.
Sister Lancaster, a founder of the order, was buried four years ago without any embalming – the act of preserving a corpse by treating it with chemicals – in a plain wooden coffin.
Image: Nearly 2,000 people flocked to the small town.
Pic: AP
She was exhumed by the monastery in preparation for a new shrine to be installed involving her “reinterment” and was discovered with “a perfectly preserved religious habit”, according to the nunnery’s statement.
Around 1,800 people flocked to the town after a private email mentioning the news mistakenly went public and the “news began to spread like wildfire”.
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Warning: Below are images of the nun’s body
A visitor from Kansas City, Missouri, Samuel Dawson visited the site and described it as “very peaceful” and “very reverent”.
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Mr Dawson, who is Catholic, said the nuns let visitors touch Sister Lancaster because they “wanted to make her accessible to the public, because in real life, she was always accessible to people”.
The phenomenon has been described as a Catholic sign of holiness by some, though scientific explanations for the lack of decay have been offered too.
Image: Pic: AP
The Diocese of Kansas City-St Joseph said: “The condition of the remains of Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster has understandably generated widespread interest and raised important questions.
“At the same time, it is important to protect the integrity of the mortal remains of Sister Wilhelmina to allow for a thorough investigation.”
The case for sainthood due to the body’s “incorruptibility” – a belief of staving off decomposition as a sign of holiness – had “not been initiated” yet, added the diocese.
This was confirmed by the Benedictines who said Sister Lancaster had not yet reached the required minimum of five years since death for the sainthood process to begin.
Meanwhile, Rebecca George, an anthropology tutor at the Western Carolina University, said the body’s lack of decomposition might not be that rare.
She said that coffins and clothing help to preserve bodies.
She added: “Typically, when we bury people, we don’t exhume them. We don’t get to look at them a couple years out.”
“With 100 years, there might be nothing left. But when you’ve got just a few years out, this is not unexpected.”
The monastery is to place the corpse in a glass shrine in the church, where visitors will still be able to see it and collect dirt from her grave, but not touch her.
Donald Trump has criticised Vladimir Putin and suggested a shift in his stance towards the Russian president after a meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy before the Pope’s funeral.
The Ukrainian president said the one-on-one talks could prove to be “historic” after pictures showed him sitting opposite Mr Trump, around two feet apart, in the large marble hall inside St Peter’s Basilica.
The US president said he doubted his Russian counterpart’s willingness to end the war after leaving Rome after the funeral of Pope Francis at the Vatican.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, he said “there was no reason” for the Russian president “to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days”.
Image: The two leaders held talks before attending the Pope’s funeral
He added: “It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through ‘Banking’ or ‘Secondary Sanctions?’ Too many people are dying!!!”
The meeting between the US and Ukrainian leaders was their first face-to-face encounter since a very public row in the Oval Office in February.
Mr Zelenskyy said he had a good meeting with Mr Trump in which they talked about the defence of the Ukrainian people, a full and unconditional ceasefire, and a durable and lasting peace that would prevent the war restarting.
Other images released by the Ukrainian president’s office show Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron were present for part of the talks, which were described as “positive” by the French presidency.
Mr Zelenskyy‘s spokesman said the meeting lasted for around 15 minutes and he and Mr Trump had agreed to hold further discussions later on Saturday.
Image: The world leaders shared a moment before the service
Image: Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy meet in the Basilica
But the US president left Rome for Washington on Air Force One soon after the funeral without any other talks having taken place.
The Ukrainian president’s office said there was no second meeting in Rome because of the tight schedule of both leaders, although he had separate discussions with Mr Starmer and Mr Macron.
The French president said in a post on X “Ukraine is ready for an unconditional ceasefire” and that a so-called coalition of the willing, led by the UK and France, would continue working to achieve a lasting peace.
There was applause from some of the other world leaders in attendance at the Vatican when Mr Zelenskyy walked out of St Peter’s Basilica after stopping in front of the pontiff’s coffin to pay his respects.
Image: Donald Trump and the Ukrainian president met for the first time since their Oval Office row. Pic: Reuters
Sir Tony Brenton, the former British ambassador to Russia, said the event presents diplomatic opportunities, including the “biggest possible meeting” between Mr Trump and the Ukrainian leader.
He told Sky News it could mark “an important step” in starting the peace process between Russia and Ukraine.
Professor Father Francesco Giordano told Sky News the meeting is being called “Pope Francis’s miracle” by members of the clergy, adding: “There’s so many things that happened today – it was just overwhelming.”
The bilateral meeting comes after Mr Trump’s peace negotiator Steve Witkoff held talks with Mr Putin at the Kremlin.
They discussed “the possibility of resuming direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine”, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said.
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On an extraordinary day, remarkable pictures on the margins that capture what may be a turning point for the world.
In a corner of St Peter’s Basilica before the funeral of Pope Francis, the leaders of America and Ukraine sit facing each other in two solitary chairs.
They look like confessor and sinner except we cannot tell which one is which.
In another, the Ukrainian president seems to be remonstrating with the US president. This is their first encounter since their infamous bust-up in the Oval Office.
Image: The two leaders held talks before attending the Pope’s funeral
Other pictures show the moment their French and British counterparts introduced the two men. There is a palpable sense of nervousness in the way the leaders engage.
We do not know what the two presidents said in their brief meeting.
But in the mind of the Ukrainian leader will be the knowledge President Trump has this week said America will reward Russia for its unprovoked brutal invasion of his country, under any peace deal.
Mr Trump has presented Ukraine and Russia with a proposal and ultimatum so one-sided it could have been written in the Kremlin.
Kyiv must surrender the land Russia has taken by force, Crimea forever, the rest at least for now. And it must submit to an act of extortion, a proposed deal that would hand over half its mineral wealth effectively to America.
Image: The world leaders shared a moment before the service
Afterwards, Zelenskyy said it had been a good meeting that could turn out to be historic “if we reach results together”.
They had talked, he said, about the defence of Ukraine, a full and unconditional ceasefire and a durable and lasting peace that will prevent a war restarting.
The Trump peace proposal includes only unspecified security guarantees for Ukraine from countries that do not include the US. It rules out any membership of Ukraine.
Ukraine’s allies are watching closely to see if Mr Trump will apply any pressure on Vladimir Putin, let alone punish him for recent bloody attacks on Ukraine.
Or will he simply walk away if the proposal fails, blaming Ukrainian intransigence, however outrageously, before moving onto a rapprochement with Moscow.
If he does, America’s role as guarantor of international security will be seen effectively as over.
This could be the week we see the world order as we have known it since the end of the Second World War buried, as well as a pope.