Riccardo Galeazzi-Lisi - Dismissal and Censure

Dismissal and Censure

On 20 October 1958, the cardinals, before their conclave – not Pope John as some claimed, since there existed no pope that day – dismissed him. At the request of the assembled Cardinals he had to resign that day, 20 October 1958. He was succeeded as Archiatra Pontificio by Professor Gasperini, who already was a member of the medical team.

He was censured by the Italian Medical council for unethical behaviour, a decision which he managed to revert on procedural grounds. He was also held responsible for the premature release of news of the death of Pius XII. He allegedly told waiting journalists that he would open the window of the papal bedroom as soon as the pope died. The window was later opened by an unsuspecting nun, who thus triggered the news of the death of Pius, while he was still fighting for his life. For the first time in Church history, modern news media such as television were fully present and many traditional positions at Castel Gandolfo were vacant or understaffed. The television challenge was in collision with an unprepared, understaffed Papal summer residence.

Galeazzi-Lisi was never officially blamed for his embalming services, nor was he ever blamed by the Vatican for the medical condition of the Pope, which, as with all Popes, was in the hand of a committee of doctors. He was punished for his indiscretion with the media and his misuse of his medical privileges. He was also banned from Vatican City for life.

In 1960, Galeazzi-Lisi attempted to dispel accusations made against him, in his book Dans l'Ombre et la Lumière de Pie XII (In the Shadow and the Light of Pius XII).