Early release. The register is a draft gathered on September 22, 2026 and not yet verified. Photographs are added as custodians give permission.How the draft was built
Saints & ScienceThe record of the incorrupt saints
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Case 008 · Incorruption · Bologna, Italy · In preparation

The seated body of St. Catherine of Bologna

Buried without a coffin and exhumed eighteen days later, she has been seated upright since about 1475, by tradition, and behind glass since 1953. The skin is dark, which is usually attributed to centuries of candle and lamp smoke. No scientific study has been found.

ChurchNot treated as a miracleEvidence grade to set
Whole body, seated

Full case file in preparation

This entry shows what the research has confirmed so far. The evidence grade is set during the research.

Reviewed September 21, 2026.

Renaissance engraving of five standing saints, the woman at the center holding a framed picture of the Madonna and Child
St. Catherine of Bologna holding an image of the Virgin, among the patron saints of Bologna, engraving by Giacomo Francia, early sixteenth centuryGiacomo Francia, via Rijksmuseum. Public domain (Public Domain Mark 1.0). Resized and cropped to fit.

What the full case file will cover

  • Every recognition of the remains, with its date, physicians, and findings.
  • Every intervention, with its date, who made it, and its source.
  • The natural explanations considered and what remains open.
  • Photographs that the custodian permits, each with its credit.

Sources for this entry

  1. Ecclesia Dei: la santa che siede

Continue to Case 009: The tongue of St. Anthony of Padua

Feast day: March 9.

Continue to Case 009