Update regarding remains of Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster, OSB
her body did not exhibit signs of decomposition after nearly four years of burial
Most Reverend Bishop James V. Johnston, Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, releases results of examination and evaluation by medical experts concerning the remains of Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster, OSB
Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster died on May 29, 2019, and was buried within days in a grave on the property of the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles monastery in Gower, Mo. She was buried without any embalming or other treatment of her body, in a simple unsealed wooden casket. Following the exhumation of the body of Sister Wilhelmina on April 28, 2023, for the purpose of moving her body into the Abbey church for interment, it was discovered that her body did not exhibit signs of decomposition that would normally have occurred after nearly four years of burial under the conditions described above.
On May 24, 2023, as the Bishop of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, I commissioned a team of local medical experts to conduct an examination and evaluation of Sister Wilhelmina’s body. The team was led by a Doctor of Pathology, who was assisted by two other medical doctors and a former Missouri county coroner. In addition to examining and evaluating the mortal remains of the deceased, the team inspected the casket, and interviews were conducted with eyewitnesses to events immediately preceding the burial in 2019 and the exhumation in April 2023.
