DID YOU KNOW…
The Cadaver Synod: When a Deceased Pope Was Put on Trial
In 897 AD, Pope Stephen VI exhumed the corpse of his predecessor, Pope Formosus, dressed him in papal vestments, and subjected him to a trial for various alleged transgressions, months after his death. This truly bizarre event is one of the strangest chapters in papal history.
During this macabre event, known as the Cadaver Synod, a deacon was appointed to speak on behalf of the nine-month-old corpse. Formosus was found guilty, his papacy declared null, and the three fingers he used for blessings were cut off. His body was then dragged through the streets of Rome before being thrown into the Tiber River. This bizarre episode reflected the intense political and theological factionalism prevalent in 9th-century Rome, leading to Stephen VI himself being imprisoned and strangled months later.
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