as if you want any more news reports from me today

[kellinator]

From CNN.com:

Pope John Paul II has been given the last rites of the Roman Catholic Church as his health deteriorates, a Vatican source tells CNN.

Comments

[digitaldevil.livejournal.com]

Well, fuck-a-dee-doo-dah. I guess he's hoping to catch up with Terri before she hits the Pearly Gates.

/bad taste

[missrachael.livejournal.com]

Do they still do that thing with the smoke signals when they choose a new pope?

Also, say what you will about John Paul Deux, the man is a trooper. I would have thrown in the towel ten years ago.

[kellinator.livejournal.com]

Reading through the list of his health problems, it is pretty astonishing that he's made it this long -- especially with all his duties and the constant public scrutiny.

To be honest, and I feel tacky saying this, but I'm rather curious about the rituals that go into this. I read this detail (from http://www.ucg.org/wnp/wnp0409/manpope.htm) recently and found it oddly fascinating:

Every pope has the equivalent of a chief of staff, called the camerlengo. When a pope dies, the camerlengo must first certify that he is indeed dead. The ritual tradition is to strike him on the forehead with a silver hammer, calling his baptismal name three times. An alternative is to place a cloth over his mouth. If he does not respond, the camerlengo declares him dead, authorizes a death certificate and then seals the papal living and working apartments.

Later, the silver hammer will be used to scratch and break the papal ring and seal, so no documents can be forged in his name.

[stevietee.livejournal.com]

Yes, the smoke signals are still in effect -- when the cardinals are voting on a new Pope, they send up white smoke when a vote has been successful and a new Pope has been chosen (grey smoke for votes that don't pass muster).

[squiddna.livejournal.com]

Oh.. shit.

[stevietee.livejournal.com]

That makes me sad. For all the backward thinking on his part (and admittedly, there's a lot to work with there), he's done a lot to move the Church forward, esp. in relation to reaching out to other religions.

[ga-sunshine.livejournal.com]

nah, he's trying to catch up with Mitch Hedberg. He needs a few good jokes.

[ga-sunshine.livejournal.com]

Wow, it's been nonstop celebrity death this week. That's sad.

[kellinator.livejournal.com]

That website's also got some details on the smoke. I don't really know anything about that group, just grabbed the site off a Google search, and I'm not so sure about some of their prophecy interpretations, but the factual details seem quite accurate.

[m0usegrrl.livejournal.com]

i can't help but imagine what the Church would be like now if his namesake and diametrically-opposed predecessor, John Paul I, had not died a scant month after becoming Pope...

[kellinator.livejournal.com]

I'd be very curious to hear your speculations, because I know very little about John Paul I.

Who was the pope who was so universally beloved? I think he was one of the Johns?

[stevietee.livejournal.com]

John XXIII

[m0usegrrl.livejournal.com]

John Paul I, from all indications, was a man of absolute peace and non-judgemental love and acceptance; it's known, for one, that he was completely okay with gay couples raising children -- a loving home is a loving home, regardless of the orientation or gender of the parents. i think the world in general would be a much more peaceful place had he lived. he had that beatific look to him that to me signifies a True Holy Person.

there's been talk that John Paul I was murdered for his views... even a book written about it.

i think it was one of the Johns who was universally beloved, though JP1 certainly was as well. sure wasn't Paul VI, who was about as hardline as JP2...

[kellinator.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the information. I've been reading about JPI and JXXIII and found it really humbling. If only...