Greek monk's body won't decompose

LAMIA, Greece, March 14 (UPI) -- Thousands of people have begun flocking to an Orthodox monastery in central Greece to view the body of a monk which has not decomposed after 15 years.

"From the start I believed that this is a sign of God," said Bishop Nikolaos from Lamia, in the prefecture of Fthiotida. "Even the monk's soft parts are intact."

Four doctors and an Athens coroner said they were unable to explain how the body of Vissarion Korkoliakos remains as it was the day he died at the Agathonos monastery, the Athens News Agency reported.

The bishop appealed for the faithful to be patient as the church sought answers.

"We are not rushing to make him a saint ... and are not calling on pilgrims to worship it," he said.