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 005 · Incorruption · Lucca, Italy · In preparation

The body of St. Zita

A natural mummy, never embalmed, found incorrupt in 1580. A University of Pisa team studied the body at the 1988 to 1989 recognition with X-ray, endoscopy, and histology, and found healed tuberculosis, coal-dust damage in the lungs, and lead exposure.

ChurchNot treated as a miracleAEvidence grade

Whole bodyNatural mummification

Full case file in preparation

This entry shows what the research has confirmed so far. The grade A is provisional and is reviewed in the full case file.

Reviewed September 21, 2026.

Photograph to come

The Basilica of San Frediano, LuccaCredit printed here once the licensed photograph is added

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

Gruppo di Paleopatologia, Pisa: S. Zita di Lucca, studio di una mummia naturale

Continue to Case 006: The body of Pope St. John XXIII

Feast day: April 27.

Continue to Case 006