Sorry I haven’t said anything about the pope since he died; I guess I’m going by the maxim that, if you don’t have anything profound to say, don’t say anything at all. But not saying anything at all isn’t an option, so here I am.
As we speak my little kitten is locked in master bathroom with a plastic cone around her head so she doesn’t chew on her stitches and neither does SarahK’s cat, Calico Fats. She’s about as pathetic looking as possible (I’ll put pictures up later), but I gave her a little piece of plastic to play with all day. Still, I worry. Also, I was drinking from my travel mug and then looked down to find my blue shirt all covered in yellow coffee stains. Stupid travel mug malfunction. Now I’m going to look like an idiot all day.
You’re probably wondering why I’m telling you all this.
It’s something called “padding.” I didn’t think I’d have enough to say about papal business so I added that paragraph in to make the post longer.
Back to the pope. Pope John Paul II was made pope in 1978 after the events in Godfather III. Since I was born in 1979, he’s been pope my entire Catholic life. You say pope, I think John Paul II. I don’t know of any other possible pope. The idea of other popes is scary. I guess this day was coming, but I never really thought it would happen. I expected Pope John Paul II to live to 120 where he was unable to do anything but give a knowing nod… which is popey enough by my standards.
But now he’s gone home, and I’m still in denial I guess. When the new pope is chosen and comes out to greet everybody, I guess I’ll have to face up to reality and say, “Hey, new pope.” Until then, I just don’t think my brain is going to register that Pope John Paul II is dead and I am currently popeless.
There been lots of talk about how the next pope might be Latino or black because media loves to speculate about that sort of thing. Me, I just hope they go by one basis when choosing a pope: If you had something where you really needed Jesus, but Jesus couldn’t show up for some reason, could you imagine this guy filling in for him? He doesn’t have to be as good as Jesus; it’s more like when you have people sub for Rush Limbaugh. He just has to be good enough to keep the regular listeners from tuning out.
Because that affects advertising dollars.
I lost focus again. Anyway, I know a bunch of you are going, “I’m not Catholic! I don’t care! Say something funny about monkeys!” But I don’t care what you think, because I have this big yellow stain on the front of my shirt.
I miss the pope.
I’m not Catholic. I don’t care. Tell us funny things about monkeys!
Just kidding. I do care about your stained shirt. Just take a marker that matches the shade of your shirt and color it in.
Hear’s hoping that the new pope will not be the anti-Christ.
My only problem right now is that we’ve got nobody to steer us away from the Apocaplypse if it happened right now.
I think Satan is just waiting for the right time when we’ve got no pope so that we Catholics won’t know what to do.
I think that if the cardinals manage to elect a Catholic to be Pope, they are probably doing better than we could expect of them.
Some respect please. A great man has died. How many men throughout history have spent as much time on the world stage and stayed with the same consistent message for as long as John Paul II did?
Ronald Reagan and John Paul II stood up to communism and called it for what it was. They were largely responsible for the collapse of the Soviet Union and communism in Eastern Europe. We lost both men in less than a year. The world may never see to such great men at the same time ever again.
I must be the oldest female IMAO reader (does that get some sort of reward?) so I do remember other popes. John Paul was a great man and wonderful leader. However the church will continue on has for 2000 years. My own personal memory … in 1978 one pope died, another was installed and then he died and then JPII was installed. I was in Catholic school … I got all these days off from school a bit like Papal snow days. However it was early fall and the weather was great. I was happy about being off from school but felt guilty about being happy. Important lesson as a Catholic to learn to feel guilty over just thinking. Then JPII visited my city and once we got off from school of course then I was just happy no guilt.
“I’m not Catholic, I don’t care” is apparently a logical fallacy, if you go by media coverage quotient.
The number of people commenting on things that don’t concern them is remarkable. I especially love the people who say “the Catholic Church needs to modernize and accept birth control.”
Um, hello folks. It’s not like the Catholic is just a cabinet secretary… like, Secretary of Religion or something. He doesn’t get to just reverse Church policy, or he devaluates the whole thing to somewhere around the level that you all think of it at.
So, yeah. I’m not Catholic and I do care. But I might be Catholic one day. Does that count?
Oh, and we should have a Secretary of Religion in this country. Then when we invade the Vatican (it’s on the list right after Canada, I think) he can become the Pope.
I’m twice as old as you are, Frank, and I miss him, too. Pope John XXIII had charisma to match Pope John Paul II’s, but it was a charisma born of personal charm; JPII’s was born of an uncompromising integrity forged in a struggle against totalitarianism.
JPII was a man who stood up for what he knew was right; unlike many others who do that, he did so with charity and humility. He set a sterling example of how to live a life, and, when the time came, an equally sterling example of how to die.
I fear that we will not see his like again for a long time.
What if they elect a Liberal Hippie Pope?
A liberal hippie pope? Maybe. But given that the past three popes have been strong into orthodoxy and big on appointments….
Also, Popes can be excommunciated. He starts sprouting heresy, he can be booted out. Also one Pope’s ex catheda can’t overwhelm another’s.
I almost peed myself when I read that!
That’s funny John.
How long does the new pope have to be in charge before we can stop calling him “new pope”?
We folks who only knew JPII will probably call the new Pontiff the new pope until the next new pope comes along.
And save the peeing if the new Pope picks Peter II as his papal name. It’ll make the apocalypse freaks go absolutely bonkers.
I do wonder though, if we’ll get another Pius, Innocent or Boniface, maybe another John? Having a second Linus would be neat, but the political cartoonists would be very mean.
Yeah, but does Aquaman want a new Pope?
As soon as people stop saying “Classic Pope was better?”
I think Aquaman wants to be the new pope
I am just glad he didn’t say: “As we speak my little kitten is locked in master bathroom with a plastic cone around her head so she doesn’t try to breat feed on me again.”
WHEW! We got lucky
Anyone from England following this thread? What’s the betting action on the new pope’s new name?
I put 50p on “JPII” in 1978 and won…two quid? Something like that.
“JPIII”? Would he be called “JP Cubed”?
Did JPII pick JPII to honor his predecessor JPI?? or was there another reason?
Even as a Lutheran, I miss the Pope. Despite some of the theological/ethical divverences that I had with him and the whole Roman Catholic Church, he was still a great man, and the world will be hard-pressed to find a good replacement for him.
Spook: And save the peeing if the new Pope picks Peter II as his papal name. It’ll make the apocalypse freaks go absolutely bonkers.
Interesting story: Back in the old days, the Pope just kept his birth name when he became Pope. Then, in about 983AD, they elected a man named Peter to be Pope.
He changed his name and became Pope John XIV out of respect for the first Peter.
By about 25 years later, it had become common practice for the Pope to choose a new name. I think it’s been about 500 years since a Pope kept his own name.
As a fellow Lutheran I have to say that I agree with loki1228 and although I never really thought about the pope much, it is sad to see him go. Also, I hope they pick someone good this time around, a liberal pope would be scary.
Jim in Texas, JPII picked his name to honor JPI, who picked his name to honor the two immediately preceeding popes.
I sympathise with the people who don’t remember any other pope. I grew up with John XXlll as The Pope and remember being almost shocked when it happened to realize the pope could die.
Jim in Texas:
Yes, he did it in memory of JP I. Who invented his name in honor of the 2 popes in front of him: John XXIII & Paul VI.
But if the new pope calls himself JP III, people will take it to mean that he wants to continue what JP II was doing. If he calls himself John XXIV, that means he wants to change things. And if he calls himself Urban, he’ll want to launch a crusade to get rid of middle eastern terrorists.
P.S. We’ve had some popes named “Innocent.” I want to see a pope named “Guilty.”
Personally I would like to see another Pope Sixtus. He would be Sixtus VI. That would send the fundy bible thumpers into an incredible rapture tizzy. I know that’s not a good reason for a pope to choose his name, but it would still be funny.
Wouldn’t one more six be needed?
I feel that Pope John Paul II is still with us.. only now without a body to weigh him down. Actually he should be much busier on the other side. This I am sure..
I really think the World is ready for an African Pope with a good sense of humor. One that speaks well with the Muslim populace, and continues to encourage Catholicism in the hopes of all walks of people. Especially those who don’t have a bowl to put rice in, are born with aids, or have forgotten the value of Life.
Wow, so I’m just a year younger than Frank J? Hmmm, more useless trivia for me…