Missouri diocese provides update on exhumed nun whose body did not decompose: 'Highly atypical'

A team of experts was unable to determine why a Missouri nun who died in 2019 had not decomposed, the bishop of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph announced on Thursday. 

"Within the limits of what has been observed during this time, the body of Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster does not appear to have experienced the decomposition that would have normally been expected under such previous burial conditions," Bishop James V. Johnston of Kansas City-St. Joseph said in a statement published on the diocesan website. 

Lancaster, who took the religious name "Sister Wilhelmina of the Most Holy Rosary," was the foundress of the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, a Catholic religious order. She died on May 29, 2019, at the age of 95. 

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Nearly four years later, on April 28, 2023, her body was exhumed to be re-interred in a new altar the nuns were constructing. After her exhumation, she was found to be in a "remarkably preserved condition" despite not being embalmed and being buried in an unsealed wooden coffin, as Fox News Digital reported at the time. 

The news of this discovery spread, leading to thousands of people descending upon the small town of Gower, Missouri, in May 2023 to venerate and view Wilhelmina's body in what pilgrims at the time called a "modern-day miracle." 

Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster, foundress of the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, who died in 2019, did not "experience the decomposition that would have normally been expected under such previous burial conditions," said Bishop James V. Johnston.  (Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles)

In the statement, Johnston said he had "commissioned a team of local medical experts to conduct an examination and evaluation of Sister Wilhelmina's body" less than a month after it was discovered that she had largely not decomposed in the four years since her death. 

That team, Johnston said, "was led by a doctor of pathology, who was assisted by two other medical doctors and a former Missouri county coroner." 

Lancaster's habit and other clothing "showed no features of breakdown."

Aside from examining her body, "the team inspected the casket, and interviews were conducted with eyewitnesses to events immediately preceding the burial in 2019 and the exhumation in April 2023," he said.

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"In the final report, the investigative team noted that the condition of Sister Wilhelmina's body during the examination was notable for a lack of any detected features of decomposition," Johnston said. 

And while the lining of the casket had "completely deteriorated," Lancaster's habit and other clothing "showed no features of breakdown," Johnston said. 

Lancaster's sisters discovered in 2023 that she had not decomposed despite dying in 2019. A new report from the diocese confirmed these findings.  (Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles)

"The investigative team was only able to conduct a limited examination but still concluded that 'the condition of her body is highly atypical for the interval of nearly four years since her death, especially given the environmental conditions and the findings in associated objects,'" he said. 

"The report also noted that the related history of Sister Wilhelmina's death and interment does not describe conditions that would be expected to protect against decomposition," he continued. 

Soil tests also found "no unusual elements" that would prevent the decomposition of an un-embalmed body, Johnston said. 

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In the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions, it has been found that some people do not decompose as expected after death. 

This is called "incorruptibility," according to the Catholic Answers website. 

"Similar to how the Father did not allow Jesus' body to experience corruption while in the tomb (see Acts 2:27), God provides that the bodily remains of some of his faithful ones will not undergo bodily corruption," the site said.

The Abbey of Our Lady of Ephesus in Gower, Missouri, was swarmed with thousands of pilgrims after it was found that Lancaster had not decomposed as expected. (Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles)

Lancaster has not been designated as "incorrupt," as the Catholic Church does not have an official protocol for labeling a deceased person as incorrupt, Johnston said in his statement.

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The bishop noted that "incorruptibility is not considered to be an indication of sainthood," and "there is no current plan to initiate a cause for sainthood for Sister Wilhelmina." 

In the Catholic Church, a person typically has to be deceased for at least five years before an official cause for canonization can be initiated, according to the website for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Lancaster has been dead for just over five years.

"I pray that Sister Wilhelmina’s story continues to open hearts to love for Our Lord and Our Lady."

"The condition of the remains of Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster has understandably generated widespread interest and raised important questions," Johnston said. "I pray that Sister Wilhelmina's story continues to open hearts to love for Our Lord and Our Lady." 

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Last year, after the discovery and subsequent media attention regarding their foundress, the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, posted a lengthy statement on their website about her legacy before and after her death. 

"Regarding what seems to be the miraculous preservation of Sister's body, we are given the opportunity to contemplate the great gifts God gives us every day, especially the ones that are literally hidden from our eyes," their statement said.

A visitor collects dirt from Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster's gravesite. The abbey is open to visitors each day, and people can venerate her remains in the church. (Thomas Phippen/Fox News)

"We believe that even as Sr. Wilhelmina's whole life and death was a miracle, pointing the way to Almighty God, that what she has left behind continues to point to His Resurrection and the life of glory that awaits us."

Lancaster's remains were placed in a glass case in the abbey's church. She is able to be viewed each day, said the abbey's website. 

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In a statement provided to Fox News Digital by the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, the nuns said they were "very edified with the continued interest in our foundress, Sister Wilhelmina, in witnessing the zeal she inspires by drawing souls closer to Christ."

The nuns added they "look forward to beginning the process of canonization when the time is right."

"In the meantime, we are happy to continue welcoming guests each day who seek her intercession," the statement said, noting that there have been "many testimonials of healings and great graces" attributed to Lancaster's intercession.  

"[We] are so grateful to God for the ongoing witness that [Lancaster] gives to our community, the Church and the world," they said.