Snapping The Dead Pope On A Camera Phone

They have come to pay their final respects, so is taking a mobile phone picture of the Pope's body disrespectful or just a sign of how times changed during his 26-year papacy?

To some it is distasteful, inappropriate and plain disrespectful. To others it is recording an historic moment to share with those who cannot be there.

With mobile phones as advanced as they are, many people are routinely carrying cameras around with them in their pockets. So the sight of them and digital cameras being produced at events as momentous as the lying in state of Pope John Paul II may be of little surprise.

But it is a sensitive area. Regulations about photographing and filming a dead pope were bought in after Pius XII's personal doctor, Riccardo Galeazzi-Lisi, sold sensationalistic photographs of the dying and dead Pope to the media in 1958.

'Souvenir'
Taking pictures or filming a pope on his sick bed were banned and anyone taking pictures after death must have permission of the chamberlain and show the body only in pontifical vestments.

Although not embalmed, according to the Vatican, the pontiff's body has been "prepared" and he is dressed in vestments. So there are no rules to stop the public taking pictures of the Pope lying in state and Vatican security staff have made no attempt to stop them, but is it disrespectful?

Julian Baggini, editor of The Philosophers' Magazine, says people often try to pin moral judgements on what is a matter of social etiquette... Continue reading