Not Long For This World

[filkertom]

Pope John Paul II is sick -- very, very sick.

It's getting more evident with every public appearance. If he makes it to the end of the year, I'll be amazed. If he makes it to the end of the week, it'll look like a major victory.

His passing will sadden me. For all the problems I have with religion in general, Catholicism in particular, and JP2's policies in detail, he has indeed been a force of nature such as the Church hasn't seen in an awfully long time. His early years saw him globe-trotting, meeting millions of people... heck, it reminds me of

In 1979 I went to WindyCon, running tech -- mostly sound and props -- for Lee Darrow's magic show. In a lot of ways, it was The Full Con Experience. I was very familiar with gaming cons, but part of the game room at Windy had Juanita Coulson and Bob Asprin with guitars and an audience. :)

I got into my first con romance, spent money on goofy toys that I didn't previously know existed, saw the most amazing Alien costume on some guy coming out of an elevator -- freaked out the poor little kid who was standing in front of the door at the time -- and, while I didn't hang out all night, I was very aware that the lobby coffee shop was open 24 hours, and I could have.

But that's not what I remember most.

Lee lived in Ann Arbor back then, and we left town around noon on Friday. This meant we hit Chicago at almost exactly 5:00 pm local time.

And the freeway was empty.

When I say empty, I mean empty. Half a dozen cars, tops, in any given half-mile stretch. Lee, who had lived in Chicago, was gobsmacked. Eventually, we hit on the thought of turning on the radio, to find out if there was some evacuation or something we should know about.

Turned out that the Pope was over at Wrigley Field, on the other side of town.

By the time the traffic all came back, we were safely in Arlington Heights. The trip back was much more typical... but I will never forget the WindyCon Miracle Drive.

Anyway. Your thoughts, or favorite JP2 stories?

Comments

Changing of the guard

[celticferret.livejournal.com]

I believe the Roman Catholic Church has an age limit on cardinlas, bishops and other lower ranking people are required to retire at 70. Pope John Paul II continues long after that age.

I find the Church too conservative for my tastes and out of touch with soma aspects of the modern world.

I left the church for good after the following encounter. I had a conversation with a parish priest where I had tried for months to arrange for my son's baptism. (He did get baptized.) I was informed that I was going to hell because I didn't believe in tax credits for private or religious schools. I still don't.

KG

[janetmiles.livejournal.com]

Although I am not any variety of Christian, and although I find many of the Catholic Church's positions conservative to the point of reactionary, I nevertheless respect John Paul II as a holy man in all the best senses of the phrase.

[shsilver.livejournal.com]

My JP2 story is very strange.

I was on my school trip to Washington, D.C. and was taking a shower. When I got out of the shower, one of my roommates said, "Did you hear what happened?" I responded, "Somebody shot the Pope." His jaw dropped. He asked me how I knew since they had just made the initial announcement on the news while I was in the shower.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Nothing whatsoever funny about JP2 getting shot... but I loved Bobcat Goldthwait's take on the Popemobile (paraphrased): "He's in there blessing everybody... what if they just bounce back off the plexiglass? 'Domini, domini -- *ping ping ping ping ping* -- 'I'M GETTIN' HOLIER!!! AAAAAAAH!!!"

[metalfatigue]

So...how did you know, then?

[crwilley.livejournal.com]

I think JP2 truly meant well, and did his best to make it happen. If he'd been able to see past the Church paradigm that seems to define women solely in terms of motherhood, he would have left the world a far, far better place than he entered it.

[gridlore.livejournal.com]

My mother, an extremely lapsed Catholic, went to Italy with her (still very Catholic) sisters. Of course, they went to the Vatican for Easter Sunday services.

As they stood in St. Mark's Square, the Pope appeared for his address.. and gave everyone in the square a free ride on all their sins! (I can;'t remember the correct church term.)

We got quite a laugh out of that. Honestly, we were amazed that Mom didn't explode into flame when she stepped onto Vatican grounds.

[janetmiles.livejournal.com]

I think probably either "dispensation" or "indulgence", but could easily be wrong.

a funny/sad Pope story

[patoadam]

An old friend of mine, known by his nickname "Bean", told me that he used to have a gig as a guitarist/singer. One of the songs in his repertoire was about the then current Pope. Here's an excerpt, from memory:

Giovanni Battista Montini
On a diet of worms and linguini
So holy he doesn't need soap
Giovanni Montini the Pope.

So he was singing this one day in 1978, when suddenly someone in the audience stood up and said, "You can't sing that! Don't you know the Pope just died?" So of course Bean apologized profusely and went on to another song.

After the next Pope was elected, Bean reworked the rhymes to fit the name of the new Pope, Albino Luciani. About a month after the Papal election, Bean performed the new version of the song for the first time. Suddenly someone in the audience stood up and said, "You can't sing that! Don't you know the Pope just died?"

[metalfatigue]

The correct term is "plenary indulgence," and it's not quite a free ride (though I can't remember what the limitations are).

[msminlr.livejournal.com]

I thought John XXIII's civilian name was Angelo Roncalli?

[drzarron.livejournal.com]

I was always sorry when the Pope took ill. He came out of the blocks as a force that the church really needed. But it feels like the sicker he became, the more conservative he became.

But perhaps change is needed. Someone strong and dymanic is just what the Church needs. But I will be sad to see him go.

[(Anonymous)]

Weren't those the given names of Paul VI and John Paul I?

[msminlr.livejournal.com]

you-right.
I forgot about Paul VI.