Pope John XXIII Looks Like He 'Died Yesterday'

V A T I C A N   C I T Y, March 27 -- A leading cardinal present when the coffin of Pope John XXIII was opened after 38 years today said the pontiff looked as if he had “died yesterday.”

“None of the body had decomposed,” said Cardinal VirgilioNoe, the high priest of St. Peter’s Basilica who oversaw the opening of the coffin in order to prepare removal of the tomb to a new space more accessible to pilgrims.

Italian media reports this weekend said only John's facewas intact but Noe, who attended the exhumation with other Vatican officials on Jan. 16, said the entire body was uncorrupted by time.

“It was as if he died yesterday,” he told Reuters on thesidelines of a news conference to present a book on the papal tombs in St. Peter's.

“He looked tranquil. His mouth was slightly open but hewas certainly tranquil. The serenity he had in life, he took with him to his death and he still had it 38 years later,” Noe said.

‘The Good Pope’

John XXIII, who reigned from 1958 to 1963, was known asthe “Good Pope” because of his benevolent and jovial nature.

He made ecclesiastical history by convening the Second Vatican Council which brought the Catholic Church up to date with modern times.

When he died, his body was not embalmed but Italian mediareports said it was treated with the preservative formalinbefore it lay in state.

The body was placed in a wooden casket inside a bronzeouter coffin and both were sealed before being buried in agrave in the narrow ancient grottoes beneath St. Peter’s, where many other popes are laid.

Now it is to be relocated near the basilica's main altar to make access easier for the millions of pilgrims who come to pray at his tomb.

Nearly four decades after his death, the man born AngeloGiuseppe Roncalli remains one of history's most loved popeswith a particularly devout following in Italy.

He has been credited with curing an Italian nun of astomach tumor. She prayed to him and quickly recovered with no medical explanation.