De pope is de dead.

[sharkz]

well. it happened. he's gone. RIP pope john paul II.


he was a pretty fly pope, i guess

[GT2000]

First non-italian pope in like 400+ years, first Polish one.

They said when he first became pope, he came to the balcony to speak, someone yelled, "IT'S THE POLE!"

And he began to address them in perfect Italian.

[sharkz]

i heard he said "i do not speak your language, but if i make a mistake you will correct me" and he mispronounced correct.


pope is a fun word to say.

i think someday i'd like to visit the vatican.

[heX]

LMAO YOU ARE ALL SO GULLIBLE !!1!11

it was a april fools joke by the catholic church... i cant believe you fell for it!

[johnny]

so who do you guys think the next pope could be? of course, i don't know any names or anything, but i'm gonna go out on a limb and say the next pope is going to be an african person. i think i'm gonna put in my resume for that popin' job, but i think my chances are pretty low.

[sharkz]

i keep thinking how funny my friend's dad would be as pope. even though he doesn't fit the job description at all.

[Plain Old Jane]

well, if no oneelse will stand up and take responsibility, then i will.

I will be Pope...

[GT2000]

Great, everyone's fucked.

[Cid]

If they don't make Billy Joel pope this time...I'm gonna kick some vatican ass.

The piano man takes a back seat to NO POPE!

[malta]

"i'm gonna go out on a limb and say the next pope is going to be an african person"

It'll be a gay dude.

[thecreeper]

i know my girlfriend's family is pretty bummed out about it, but he lived a pretty long life. we all gotta go sometime.

[Mike]

There's some worry amongst young Catholics (of whom I'm not, but I have many friends) in that most of the prominent cardinals are not as intune with the youths of the world, something that John Paul II was moreso than any other Pope, arguably, any other prominant man. Additionally, there are few eligible Cardinals who are as moderate, or willing to bend--while still holding to strict values--as John Paul II was... Many are either rather liberal or rather conservative, and the Catholic Church does not need a liberal Pope (though, neither do they NEED a Conservative Pope, I just think, with the nature of Catholicism; ignoring the Chrisis from year's past; A liberal Pope would not be particularly good for the faith right now).

It's an exciting time, Catholic or not.

[raublekick]

Although I don't subscribe to any of the Catholic Church's ideals, I think they need someone who will be strict about their own behavior. Seriously, someone just needs to put the hammer down and say "If you touch little boys you're out, end of disscussion". They've shot themselves in the foot by trying to lessen the impact of that sort of behavior, I'd have a lot more respect for them if they just admitted to the problem outright and had firm action against it.

It kinda sucks that everyone has to be affected by the Pope's death and the dawn of a new Pope. Like I said, I don't agree with pretty much anything the Catholic Church does, but if a bad Pope is but in I'll certainly be affected by it; the influence is global.

Ah well, I don't really care that much.

[Mike]

Well ... the scandals that took place happened 30 years ago... predominantly, and those priests were dealt with (80% of priests who had allegations brought up against them were either dead by 2004, or had been defrocked [removed from parishes]). Before the second Vatican Council (Vatican II), priests would be removed from the priesthood... sort of (not completely). But that wasn't really consistent with Church philosophy (Jesus forgives. If they ask for forgiven ... it has to be granted. The Church is not a crime/punishment unit).

I used to think that a priest who breaks his vows should not be considered a priest anymore, but I've since changed my mind .... sort of. I guess I'm hung up in the middle of it.