Meet the Pope whose body was exhumed after death, dressed up and charged for trials

I can recall that when someone dies he is buried
and said to rest in peace but such was not the
case of renowned Pope of Catholic Church who
was exhumed and charged for trials. This is what
is literary called “double wahala” in the Nigeria
pidgin language.

His name is Pope Formosus, a native of Rome
born around c. 816. He was the bishop of Rome
and ruler of the Papal States whose reign as pope
was troubled, marked by the interventions in
power struggles over the Holy Roman Empire.
Seven months after his death, his body was
exhumed and put on trial in the papal court for
judgment because he sided with Arnulf of
Carinthia against Lambert of Spolet and other
allegations.
His trial was conducted by Pope Stephen VI, his
successor who accused Formosus of perjury and
of having acceded to the papacy illegally. At the
end of the trial, Formosus was pronounced guilty
and his papacy retroactively declared null.
Pope Stephen VI during the trial asked Formosus’
corpse why he “usurped the universal Roman See
in such a spirit of ambition” after the death of
John VIII and accused him that he had attempted
to exercise the office of bishop as a layman.
Formosus became bishop of Porto-Santa Rufina
in 864 ; during the pontificate of Pope Nicholas I
and also carried out missionary work at Bulgaria
where he was requested to be their Bishop due to
his success. However, the request was rejected
by Pope Nicholas due to the law that prevents
bishops from administering more than one see.
Formosus fled Rome in fear of Pope John VIII
who issued a series of accusations against
Formosus and some of his associates. He
asserted that Formosus had corrupted the mind of
the Bulgarians “so that, so long as Formosus was
alive, they would not accept any other bishop
from the apostolic see,” that he and his fellow
conspirators had attempted to usurp the papacy
from John, and finally that he had deserted his
see in Porto and was conspiring “against the
salvation of the state.
After the death of John VIII in December 882,
Formosus’ troubles ended. He resumed his
bishopric at Porto, where he remained until
elected pope on 6 October 891.
He died 4 April 896 and his body was exhumed
seven months later for trial.