Pope John Paul II dies in Vatican

[Chris]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4399715.stm

:(

[andsome]

He certainly put up a fight. I have no truck with ANY religion, but no one can deny that he achieved a lot, especially for the Poles and eastern Europe in general.

[deuces wild]

Indeed, including his involvement with the fall of communism.

[Besty]

I am not a catholic but I hope he passed away peacefully

[bvw]

What a wonderful man, a sad day.

[djohn]

First Pope to wear spectacles while reading in public.

First Pope to wear a wristwatch

First Pope to paddle a canoe

First Pope to Ski.

First Pope to eat and enjoy a British Breakfast of Bacon & eggs most mornings.

May he rest in peace and enjoy eternity with the God he loved.

[deuces wild]

First Pope to wear spectacles while reading in public.

First Pope to wear a wristwatch

First Pope to paddle a canoe

First Pope to Ski.

First Pope to eat and enjoy a British Breakfast of Bacon & eggs most mornings.

May he rest in peace and enjoy eternity with the God he loved.

First pope to go white water kayaking He did it with some of his "buds". He got called back to Rome during the vacation and when finished with his business he reportedly stated he wanted to go back to the kayaking.

First Pope to ride in the Popemobile.

Was he the first Pope to have an assasination attempt made on his life?

[ranger]

No, first pope to be assisinated was

John VIII (872 - 882) first he was poisoned and then he was beaten to death.

[artist]

R.I.P.

[Belatucadrus]

It appears that being Pope has always been a somewhat dangerous occupation.

The following is a list of murdered pontiffs and the way  in

which they are thought to has been removed:

John VIII (872-882): Poisoned and clubbed to death

Adrian III, St. (884-885): Rumoured poisoned

Stephen VI (896-897): Strangled

Leo V (903): Murdered

John X (914-928): Suffocated under a pillow

Stephen VII (VIII) (928-931): Possibly murdered

Stephen VIII (IX) (939-942): Mutilated and died from injuries

John XII (955-964): Suffered a stroke while with a mistress

or murdered by an outraged husband

Benedict VI (973-974): Strangled by a priest

John XIV (983-984): Starved to death or poisoned

Gregory V (996-999): Rumoured poisoned, probably malaria

Sergius IV (1009-1012): Possibly murdered

Clement II (1046-1047): Rumoured poisoned

Damasus II (1048): Rumoured murdered

Boniface VIII (1294-1303): Died from abuse received while a

captive of the French in Anagni

The Pope encyclopaedia

[Tankus]

Nice send off ....even though I'm an atheist ......

Someone had fun with the seating arrangements ...Charles was made to sit next but one to Mugabe ......

[Scarecrow Man]

Catholic or not, everyone knows who he is, and we all feel the loss of a great man.

[expertec]

I feel nothing... I just wish they'd leave him alone.

[andsome]

Someone had fun with the seating arrangements  ...Charles was made to sit next but one to Mugabe  ......

They shook hands evidently. :muha: :muha: :muha:

[romanab]

He certainly seemed to have been well loved and respected all across the globe but I feel that in one area he was seriously flawed.

His rigid dogmatic approach to contraception, I believe, has brought misery to millions across the third world. In Africa twenty five million people either have aids or are HIV positive and the vaticans total opposition to the use of condoms is seriously hampering the fight against the disease. At the same time there are population explosions in some of the worlds poorest areas which their countries just cannot support.

In other areas he does appear to have been "a great man" but a saint, I'm not so sure...

[deuces wild]

Have you forgotten the word "abstinence"?

Sex between 2 men has never been condoned by the Catholic Church. And it is certainly not a papal issue as the Church has been consistent on this issue. If one were to abide by the traditional Church's stance I guess we would not be seeing any instances of AIDS.

Eh? :rolleyes:

[andsome]

Have you forgotten the word "abstinence"?

Sex between 2 men has never been condoned by the Catholic Church.  And it is certainly not a papal issue as the Church has been consistent on this issue.  If one were to abide by the traditional Church's stance I guess we would not be seeing any instances of AIDS.

Eh?  :rolleyes:

Aids is NOT necessarily caused by homo sexual sex, it is also passed from male to female and vice versa. NORMAL people cannot go through their whole lives abstaining from sex, it is NOT possible. This is what is so unnatural about catholic priests. How on earth can a church expect celibate men to be in a position to advise married families how to run their lives. The whole concept of the church is flawed. Catholics claim that God said, "go forth and multiply", or words to that effect. I am sure that an all seeing , loving and infinitely wise God did not mean, "go forth and multiply until there are so many of you that you drown in your own cesspit, and if a terrible disease breaks out then spread it around the whole planet, and orphan millions of innocent children". We have to remember that the Bible has been handed down over many generations, and has been subject to many translations. It is open to many interpretations. I truly think that the pope was a great man in many ways, and I have already said so in this forum, but I just cannot believe that any pope was, ,or even can be, infallible. It is totally impossible. A pope is elected by a group of men who have no experience whatsoever of married life, and is expected to rule a church run only by men, who are in turn expected to advise married women how to raise their families. The church, as with ALL other religions, needs to modernise, and face the problems of the day, and not bury it's head in the sand. I firmly believe that you can believe in a greater force for good, and call that force God, or Allah or whatever, without practising this belief in a club run by zealous bigots, who believe that this God personally appointed them to run things. Just look at the atrocities performed in the name of all religions over the years. The churches are out dated, and bigoted.

[catgate]

In the 1790’s a certain Thomas Paine, who, although British by birth, was so highly esteemed as to have French and American citizenship conferred upon him, wrote one of the most controversial, yet thoroughly researched books of his or any other period. It was called “Age of Reason”, and in it he examined the question of whether or not there existed a “God” (or “god” of any sort). In his discourse he used the contents of the writings in the Holy Bible, both Old and New Testaments, to readily and unequivocally prove that the existence of “God,” as portrayed by the power seeking High Priests and Clerics of all religions, was purely in the minds of those power seeking High Priests and Clerics. They used this notion of “God” to subjugate the populace to their wills, by cleverly building into the minds of the populace the idea that only by conducting themselves in precisely the manner “God” had revealed, to those He had called to be His earthly representatives , could they, the populace, be saved from Damnation and Hell. It just so happened that it was only to His earthly representatives that He had revealed the existence of Damnation and Hell, and the necessary qualification for getting there. They, the High Priests, were thus able to induce into the populace a sense of fear and inadequacy by persuading them that without the guidance of the High Priests the ordinary mortal was doomed.

On one of the commercial TV channels during this last week there was a two and a half hour documentary detailing the work of a group of prominent Jewish archeologists and scholars. They have found that Abrham, Moses, David etc (as portrayed in Jewish history and the Old Testement) were folklore, cooked up by Josiah, when he "invented" monotheism (and the ten commandments etc.) in order to better control his kingdom. He either wrote or caused to be written the book of Deuteronomy, which laid down the foundation and codification of the "traditional" Jewish belief from which all western nonsense has emanated.

If all this is coupled with the 'goings on' at the Council of Nicea (organised by Emporor Constantine in 325AD) the abundantly clear mendacity of all current hypocritical supressions which masquerade as organised religions is obvious, be they Jewish, Christian or Muslim (or any other you care to choose)

[andsome]

More or less in agreement then. I see no problem in people having beliefs, as long as these beliefs do no one else harm. I have posted the following on here previously before your time. When I served my national service, part of the time in Germany, I came home on leave and married 'Er indoors. We returned to camp and rented a couple of rooms off a Dutch family just over the border. Poppa was a great character, but bone idle, so just about everything was left to Momma. The eldest daughter gave birth to a son, and in doing so almost died. She was seriously ill for three weeks, suffering several hemorrhages. Momma went over every day to look after her while her husband was at work. She did all the washing and shopping, house work etc for them as well as for her own family. She returned home each evening to cook her own family's meal, because Poppa did not have a clue what to do. In other words she was a saint in the true meaning of the word. When the daughter recovered sufficiently not to need constant care Momma went to the church for the first time in three weeks. The priest asked why she had not been attending. After receiving a full explanation, he told her that she was a wicked woman, and that she had no excuse not to find time to attend the house of God. This is just what I talked about in my previous post. A man who did not have a clue what life in the real world is all about, having the nerve to say such a thing to an exceptionally hard working, extremely kind lady. She was distraught, and came home sobbing.

[catgate]

I am wondering about the endless TV programmes that will arise out of the death of this poor unfortunate man. I can foresee such gems as

All our Yesterpopes

Desert Island Pope

Eastpopers

Who Wants to Win a Million Popes

Have I got Popes for You

Pope Idol

Pope Makeover

Plastic Popery

A Pope in the Sun

[andsome]

We have to go through the old smoke up the chimney routine yet.

[deuces wild]

I am wondering about the endless TV programmes that will arise out of the death of this poor unfortunate man. I can foresee such gems as

All our Yesterpopes

Desert Island Pope

Eastpopers

Who Wants to Win a Million Popes

Have I got Popes for You

Pope Idol

Pope Makeover

Plastic Popery

A Pope in the Sun

It has already happened:

Italy is to screen to Vatican-based cartoon sitcom that the BBC cancelled after a protest campaign by Catholics.

Popetown was scrapped by BBC3 after more than 6,000 people complained its portrayal of a pogoing Pope, played by Ruby Wax, and a manipulative cardinal was offensive.

But now Italian channel CanalJimmy, based just a few miles from the Vatican, has bought the 10-part series to air this spring.

The sale will help the BBC recoup some of the money spent producing the animated show, which also feature Little Britain’s Matt Lucas, The Office’s Mackenzie Crook and model Jerry Hall.

http://www.chortle.co.uk/news/Jan05/pope300102.php

[Tankus]

OK..... so they've not decided and theres black smoke .........

But whats this I hear that the front runner was a former member of the Hitler youth ...? ...and known as Gods rottweiler .....?

[andsome]

Remember the old tune? "And the smoke goes up the chimney just the same".

[Tankus]

A plume of black smoke floated out of a tall, thin stack erected on the roof of the Sistine Chapel last nigh

The Guardian

cheap and nasty chimney ..It was errected just for this . It looks like a B&Q barbecue stack , so I wonder what happened to the original ....

They could have at least gold plated it