She was beatified in 1614 and canonized in 1622. Now the aim is to make a canonical recognition of the conditions in which her remains are still found.
St Teresa of Jesus, also known as St Teresa of Avila, lived in Spain in the 16th century. She died 442 years ago but, according to the Church, her body is still in a good state of preservation.
Her remains are guarded not by seven keys, but by 10 - three are with the Discalced Carmelite order, three with the Carmelite Father General in Rome, three with the Duke of Alba, and one with the King. The security scheme was put in place in the 17th century.
Each set of keys opens a part of the tomb: the grille, the marble vault and the silver vault. The entire opening process took place at the end of August and required authorization from Pope Francis.
Italian scientists and doctors took part in the procedure. The aim is to analyze the saint's body, heart, one arm and one hand in order to canonically recognize their condition, reports El País.
According to the Diocese of Ávila, it was possible to observe that the saint's body has been preserved in the same way since the last exhumation in 1914, with the researchers comparing the current state with photographs taken 110 years ago of the saint's face and feet.
This time, new photographs were taken and the remains X-rayed. All the material was sent to an Italian laboratory.
A report with scientific conclusions on the saint's conservation should be released in the coming weeks.
