Italy: The Death of Pope Karol Wojtila

by -?- Sat Apr 09, 2005 22:14

He seems to have overlooked the C.O.I. renegade cosmopolitan Joszef MagDjiarmadjia .....

by - Sat Apr 09, 2005 16:23

only 3 people earned a personal mention in the Pope's will :-
his polish secretary.
the polish cardinal who told him he had won the conclave.
the Rabbi of Rome.

by redjade Sat Apr 09, 2005 14:36

'When Bush's face appeared on giant screen TVs showing the ceremony, many in the crowds outside St. Peter's Square booed and whistled.'

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20050408/D89B82DO0.html

by Veronica Sat Apr 09, 2005 03:18

http://www.acts2.com/thebibletruth/Fugitive_Pope.htm

by ora pro nobis - step by resolute step Fri Apr 08, 2005 20:05

Karol Wotyla perhaps suffered more as pope than any other man in living memory.
His predeccesor JP1 only lasted a few weeks, and perhaps mercifully (for him) died from a heart attack.
The Last will & Testament of Karol Wotyla declared this man's wish to be laid to rest in his native Poland.
Like much else he said, and wrote his orders were over-ridden. Towards the end of his life he came under extreme pressure something we know with the publication yesterday of his will, even to the point of considering leaving, but he of course could not leave, he had no option to give up and make a new life, start afresh as it were.
Others are more fortuanate at end it would seem than Karol, who driven through most of his life by strength of body and purpose and armed with faith faced down manipulation, adversity and became one of the leaders of the world with undisputed integrity, a man of whom it could never be said "he had another agenda".

But enough said for the moment.
don't you know.
Tomorrow the anti- / contra- bunch that we are,
the dingbats and belfry crew will be taking the piss out of others, and of course wondering "who was in the mystery learjet 131 which the italians justified the militarisation of heaven in rome with today" was it really (put your heads together on this one conspiracy fans) just on its way to pick up the president of macedonia??? (didn't that government all die in a plane crash when Bertie was Euro president???) ( did that prompt the hiring of Lear jets instead???)

these and yet more mysteries will be told
in time.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4920759,00.html

the flag of the red dragon was brought from Rome to Cymru - it is one of the oldest flags in europe. "wedding day" 2mrw.

by redjade Fri Apr 08, 2005 15:03

http://www.Rall.com

by redjade Fri Apr 08, 2005 14:37

STARKE, Fla. (AP) - Gov. Jeb Bush said he had considered delaying Tuesday’s execution of a convicted killer out of respect for Pope John Paul II’s death, but changed his mind out of sympathy for the family of the murdered woman.

Glen Ocha, 47, is scheduled to die at 6 p.m. EDT inside Florida State Prison for the 1999 strangulation of an Osecola County woman he had met in a bar. An anonymous executioner, who is paid $150 for his services, will inject a lethal cocktail of chemicals to stop Ocha’s heart and his breathing.

Bush is a convert to Roman Catholicism and the pope opposed capital punishment.

found at
http://amsam.org/2005/04/cheap-sympathy.html

by redjade Thu Apr 07, 2005 18:58

→ the Pope drew up guidelines for the ever-advancing world of technology and news dissemination in an Apostolic Letter in late January. The following is an excerpt:

"The mass media can and must promote justice and solidarity according to an organic and correct vision of human development by reporting events accurately and truthfully, analyzing situations and problems completely, and providing a forum for different opinions. An authentically ethical approach to using the powerful communication media must be situated within the context of a mature exercise of freedom and responsibility, founded upon the supreme criteria of truth and justice."

http://www.alternet.org/peek/2005/04/003416.html

other info
http://www.vatican.va

by redjade Wed Apr 06, 2005 21:15

According to the rumours, said to have come from sources in the Italian government and believed by senior cardinals, the Pope actually died on Friday.

The theory goes that conservatives close to the Pope decided that if they had an extra day they could mobilise many more sympathetic Roman Catholics from around the world to converge on Rome for the Pope’s funeral.

[....]

The rumour may sound far fetched but the fact that it is circulating among — and is believed by — informed liberal Vatican-watchers was an indication of the febrile mood possessing Rome after the death of the most influential Pope of modern times.

“They managed all this in the Pope’s last hours to mobilise the Polish people and the conservative and charismatic movements, like Opus Dei, Communion and Liberation and the Neo Catechuminates, for the purpose of creating a huge turnout for the funeral,” said one distinguished academic.

“This will provide momentum for calls for the canonisation of the Pope and create the atmosphere that will help the conservatives secure the succession.”

by Marius Heuser and Peter Schwarz - WSWS Wed Apr 06, 2005 13:00

Pope John Paul II: a political obituary
By Marius Heuser and Peter Schwarz
WSWS

Amidst the media barrage depicting Pope John Paul II as a contemporary saint and uncritically presenting the pomp and mysticism of the Vatican’s funeral rites, almost nothing serious can be found about the personality of John Paul II or his real role in contemporary history. The political issues and concerns that dominated the life of Karol Joseph Wojtyla and consumed his 27-year papacy are barely discussed.

The Roman Catholic Church has been a bedrock of political reaction for centuries, first as a pillar of the feudal order, when it opposed the Protestant Reformation, and later as a bulwark of bourgeois rule. Regardless of the individual qualities of the man who sits at the head of the Church, his role is intensely political.

by Do it yourself Wed Apr 06, 2005 11:17

I'm a catholic worker too, but no Pope lover.

Many working class catholics, are disappointed by the rigid class system inherent in the catholic church, whereby the rich/well dressed and those with money are considered by the church hierarchy, to be more respectable, holy and pius than ordinary poor catholics.

We love catholiscism but due to corruption/double standards within the church such as its choosing to protect paedophile priests instead of innocent working class children who've been sexually abused by pillar of society priests.

Due to this we prefer to observe catholic prays and pray to specific saints for intercession on our behalf, rather than requesting intercession through flawed, corrupt and potentially evil catholic male priests.

Catholics who are put off by the scandal and inequality, and unfair doctrines preached by the conventional catholic institution,should not abandon the catholic faith, but forget the flawed conventional church and pray to the saints yourself.

by Ciaron - DCW Wed Apr 06, 2005 10:40 087 918 4552

Point taken, that my point may have been better taken if I hadn't started with the opening salvo and simply stated JP2's consistency and activist interventions on executions. There were many such phone calls and many such interventions by JP2.

Cheap shot? I'm not the anonymous initial poster taking a pot shot at a dead guy who has no right/ability to apply.

In terms of cultural relativism of Italians favouring flamboyant rhetoric. Austraians remain more inclined to a direct, "cut the crap", vulgar style.

There have been many interesting reflections & critiques by agnostics and athiests on the death of JP2 in the last few days. (see Vincent Browne's piece in the Village, see Tueday's Guardians Magazine section)......I don't regard this posting profound and in at least one case (eg. the death penalty) it was inacurate.

As the Guardian reflected yesterday, the Catholic Church is probably the only true global phenoenon, it is a voluntary organisation (one is free to leave and return or stay away), it also has a sense of family (dysfunctional like most) for us who were born into and have chosen to stay in it. And you know the dynamic in any neighborhood when the neighbors start attacking a family member especially so fresh after a death - what the repsonse is going to be.

I find it difficult, even responding to your comment, let alone the longer initial piece on this medium - as by the time you slap up the indy comment format, the original piece disappears. And my memory isn't that good.

Speaking of which - I made a mistake in the Newstalk 106 interview with the name of the man executed for the killing/rape of the elderly nun in Texas. The correct name is in the indy posting, the other name mentioned on the radio is another of Anne Richards victims that year.

As a radical I have a preference for dealing with conservatives (who at least stab you in the front) than liberals (who will always stab you in the black) The trend of previous liberal death penality opponents Wilder (civil rights backgorund), Clinton (anti-war), Richards who flipped on the death penalty when they became Governors is also instructive.

Also as I found out i the recent trial, my junior prosecutor seems to be googling me on a daily basis and is willing to use any flippant (have a weak spot for flippancy) comment in cross exmaination so this medium is not as "free" as I had thought.

Thanx for the respectful response, I'll try and cut down on the flippancy in my comments Respect for all the good work you and your organisation do....glad someone is doing it in Ireland.

by seedot Tue Apr 05, 2005 16:45

http://www.dangermaus.com/article.php?article=179

has the truth behind the hiberno blogosphere

by redjade Tue Apr 05, 2005 16:04

→ planetpotato says:
National Day of Moaning
Whinge whinge whinge. For once I've been impressed with Bertie for standing up to the "cosy consensus" (90+ % in polls) that we should declare a "National Day of Mourning" for the dead pope. I fail to understand the point - why should the business community pay to allow those who want to go to Mass do so? If you so love the deceased pope, is it so hard to take a day off work? What's wrong with Saturday and Sunday? Who exactly would it "show respect to" if the country took a day off work? Are we doing this for our benefit or for the benefit of the international community?
http://planetpotato.blogs.com/planet_potato_an_irish_bl/2005/04/national_day_of.html

→ Balrog has some short quotes from John Paul II
http://gaskinbalrog.blogspot.com/2005/04/wise-words.html


→ Eamonn.com says:
Putting on our red hats
So, you're a cardinal and you're in the conclave. What now? Do you vote for a Third World type to reflect the new demographics of the Catholic Church? Or do you go for an Italian to prop up Old Europe? What about a youngster (well, under 65) to connect with the internet age?
http://www.eamonn.com/archives/001761.html

→ Gavin [ http://www.gavinsblog.com/?p=2073 ] says the Guardian has the best Obit [ http://www.guardian.co.uk/pope/story/0,12272,1451324,00.html ]

→ twentymajor applies for the job:
Dear The Vatican,
in response to your advertisement in the Irish Independent jobs section on April 4th 2005 I would like to apply for the position of Bishop of Rome, better known as The Pope. I believe that I have the qualifications, experience, spirituality and enthusiam that you are looking for.
http://twentymajor.blogspot.com/2005/04/job-application-letter.html

→ monasette notes:
And only in Ireland could a political row break out over exactly how much mourning is appropriate. Enda Kenny, leader of Fine Gael, must have very little else to do when he called on the government to declare an official day of mourning
http://www.monasette.com/archive/000576.html

by redjade Tue Apr 05, 2005 13:01

from NewsTalk 106
http://radio.indymedia.org/uploads/ciarono-ntalk106-20050404.mp3

About 7megs

by chekov Mon Apr 04, 2005 23:33

1. Italian political language is generally much more arcane and jargon-filled than anything produced in Ireland. I feel that this may be why it reads to you like "swallowed the anarcho-dictionary and is spewing it up in chunks". However, this communique is actually very clear and readable by italian standards and I feel that your dismissive comments are far less thoughtful than the original text. Often those who stick to their principles in times of hysteria are called names for 'spewing' their theory up. Perhaps, rather than dismissing it with a cheap shot (of course anarchists are going to use anarchist ideas!), you could address some of the points raised.

2. Your anecdote about the pope ringing a US politician to unsuccessfully request that she not kill a prisoner answers precisely none of the points in the texts above. It does not even say anything of worth about the pope's unambiguous attitude to capital punishment. The pope made a telephone call once about it, which had no apparent effect. The pope is the leader of a very powerful organisation and there are many things he could have done without any trouble at all which might have been more effective. Do you similarly feel that Bertie Aherne has shown consistent opposition to the war? After all he told us that he told Bush of his reservations about the war.

by fuinseog Mon Apr 04, 2005 23:28

.

by Ciaron - Dublin Catholic Worker Mon Apr 04, 2005 23:04

This communique sounds like someone swallowed the anarcho-dictionary and is spewing it up in chunks
or one of those just add water and stir instant analysis thangs. The last time I heard anything like this was a Shining Path communique. Anyway, I digress......

I'd like to question the "ambigious attitude to capitol punishment".

When I was locked up in Texas in the early '90's for a faith-based anti-war disarmament of a B-52 Bomber, a liberal feminist by the name of Anne Richards was the Governor of Texas. Anne had the most active death row in the western world at the time - one human sacrifice a month (George Bush was to double the rate when he got the job). Local college students then, as they do now, have keg parties outside the execution chamber whenever there's an execution.

Johnny Frank Garret was set to be executed in anti-septic Texas style lethal injection for his murder-rape of a 76 year old nun in Amarillo 12 years before. Johnny Frank was 17 with a long history of sexual abuse, when this killing/rape was committed. The Prosecutor stated "The death penalty was made for people like Johnny Garret!"

The victim's order of nuns in Amarillo, Bishop Mathiessen & 12 other Bishops and the Pope John Paul 2nd (direct phone call to the Governor) plead with Governor Anne Richards for the life of Johnny Garret . They made the obvious point that the good sister's life was one of prayer and service, she left a legacy that the death penalty should have no part. They made the point that the life of Johnny Frank Garret was sacred and that capitol punishment is the most premediated murder.

Anne Richards granted the first 30-day stay of her administration then went on to execute Johnny Frank Garret.

Such a mainstream rising star was Anne, and so unaffected in the liberal discourse by running the most active death row in the western world, that she got to chair the Democratic Convention that nominated Clinton later that year. A successful nomination in which in which Clinton proved himself (exorcising the Willie Horton factor Bill perceived had nixed Dukakis in prior Prez race against Daddy Bush) by executing a brain damaged black inmate back Arkansas where he was then Governor.

The Catholic Church is one of the few voices against the death penalty in the U.S. landscape, JP2 had a consistent opposition to it.

by eeekkkk Mon Apr 04, 2005 18:50

Because Bin Laden and the Mujahadeen Holy Warrior Type Boyos drained the Evil Empires Economic Blood in a Geurilla War in Afghanistan.

So many plots tangle and clash . . . etc

My favourite Pope memory is a friend filling me in on how his father made his initial fortune selling pope on a rope soap to the multitudes in feenix park. He still had boxes of them 15 years later.

by jeff Mon Apr 04, 2005 18:36

you wrote;

"Then, the Pope from Poland came along, and the whole communist crapheap disintegrated overnight. No wonder you can't stand the man. But, millions loved him. Pope John Paul will be revered a thousand years from now when assholes like Marx, Trotsky, Lenin, Stalin, Castro et al are insignificant footnotes to history...."

I thought it was all Reagens fault that communism fell. When he died, everyone was all like 2A taa-ruly grrrrreeatt man, he defeated communism..."Now JP11 gets the limelight. I just hope you alll remember to give Mr. Gorbachov his dues when his time to depart this mortal coil commences...

by Con Carroll Mon Apr 04, 2005 18:09

Ratzingar was a fascist bastard in the ss
Catholic Bishops involved in denial and justice were reoved from their parishes and taken in scantuary to the vatican where they would nof face prosecution fron the state by survivours of child abuse.
Teresa of Calcutta was a right wing pro life parasite virgin
Johnny the old dictator it was about time he went.
Hope fully Michael woods Noel Dempsey Mc Dowell Harney will follow johnny
Sinead O Connor would be more human After all she is a spiritual sexual woman
cheers

by Mrs Doyle Mon Apr 04, 2005 17:48

You can't compare the Pope to likes of Padre Pio or Mother Theresa.

The Pope's sole purpose in life was to act as the empty, cold figurehead of a multinational, totalitarian institution, that is the vatican, not the ordinary catholic church.

The Pope spent most of his life blindly saluting/blessing/absolving the nasty, smug, rich who could afford to shuffle past him.

These same corrupt far from holy rich people would then return home to boast about meeting the pope, and use it to further their social standing amongst the snooty catholic rich. Look how good/saintly I am, i met the Pope etc, when in fact, they're still and will always be nasty rich bastards.

The same can be said of the muslim rich who can afford to flock to mecca, to return and boast about how holy/religious they are, when in fact they're still and will always be nasty rich bastards.

by Chekov Mon Apr 04, 2005 16:22

As far as I can see there is no substance to the claim that "he was a good man and a good pope... a good leader."

The only real evidence proferred as far as I can see is his opposition to the dictatorships of the Warsaw pact. Considering the fact that these dictatorships were very actively opposed to the catholic church, it is safe to assume that he would have opposed them regardless of whether he was a good man or not. That's just how people behave towards their opponents.

On the other hand, his collaboration with Latin American dictators shows that he had nothing against political repression in general. His energetic suppression of liberation theology and the doctrine of the preferential option for the poor adds weight to the case that his political decisions were not guided by anything that most of us would recognise as a moral principle.

Furthermore, as the leader of the church, 'the buck stops' with him when it comes to the systematic covering up of thousands of cases of child-rape and other such appalling crimes.

QUOTE "And on the African AIDS contraception note, you're right he non discriminately opposed the use of contraception but he promoted absentation from sexual intercourse which is just as effective."

This is highly misleading. Abstention from sex is obviously more effective as an anti-aids strategy for an individual than condoms. However, promotion of this strategy in a population of human beings is very well known to be far less effective than the promotion of condoms. He knew this. He actively sought to suppress the promotion of condoms. He knew that all the evidence suggested that this policy would cost millions of lives. It did and continues to do so. As the leader of this powerful and influential organisation, the buck stops with him again.

by K Mon Apr 04, 2005 15:59

Why last one?

Whether you like John Paul II or not the fact remains that he was probably the best pope the catholic church have ever had. The reality of the siutation is that the catholic church is a conservative religion and institution. They do not agree on moral grounds with homosexuality, contraception and divorce.

Their policy on these issues are unlikely to change and they make no apology for that.

But John Paul II although he was a conservative (shock horror guess who he worked for) he also did a great deal of good for this world.

He greatly aided the fall of communism in Poland and did a great deal for the country and he attempted to breed peace and tolerance through religion as he visited not only political leaders asking for peace but also heads of other religions and prayed in non catholic places of worship in order to set an example.

So i do think he was a good man and a good pope. In general I think he was a good leader.

And on the African AIDS contraception note, you're right he non discriminately opposed the use of contraception but he promoted absentation from sexual intercourse which is just as effective.

by tony the tiger Mon Apr 04, 2005 15:31

thats a slight bit harsh man, his body aint cold yet, lets at least wait till friday, then we can all join the pope bashing cermony.

by tony the tiger Mon Apr 04, 2005 15:31

thats a slight bit harsh man, his body aint cold yet, lets at least wait till friday, then we can all join the pope bashing cermony.

by seedot Mon Apr 04, 2005 15:28

A pope called Benedict or "the glory of the olive" is the next, and possibly, last one.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prophecy_of_the_Popes

by eeekkkkk Mon Apr 04, 2005 15:17

Black Pope appears (hello eoinski) = end of the world

by Federazione dei Comunisti Anarchici - (Federation of Anarchist Communists) Mon Apr 04, 2005 12:34 internazionale at fdca dot it

Statement by the (Italian) Federation of Anarchist Communists on the death of Karol Wojtyla
As anarchist communists, we have constantly followed the policies and mass-media strategy of this pope, like a malicious special correspondent dogging John Paul II (hereon JPII). In the early years of his pontificate our members were among the first to inspire and promote the first Anti-Clerical Meetings, which launched the alarm on the danger of the cocktail of his colonializing drive and the use of television, and the post-Concordat clerical revenge on Italian society which has hit education, healthcare and culture. This pope, let us remember it, came to the throne following the sudden and hierarchically-convenient death of John Paul I who, from the first days of his reign, had made murmurings about renewal and invitations to the Vatican to renounce its earthly goods. Afterwards, instead, everything changed for the better - for the eternal establishment of the Vatican: strong watchwords were required so that there would be no doubt regarding the supremacy of the Catholic religion over all others and on the obligation of being a believer. This was amply demonstrated by the recent debate in the European Parliament on the christian roots of Europe.

JPII had a "monster" to fight which was borrowed from the Cold War (and for which IOR-Marcinkus financing was useful). A first "publicity" breach was opened with the conquest of Poland in Eastern Europe. Obviously seeking to take all the merit for the fall of the regimes, and acting only in the interests of his Church, irrespective of the effect on the world's social and political equilibrium.

But the dream of the evangelization of Eastern Europe ran into the reality of cultures which did not and do not have any intention of being evangelized by Catholicism, instead consigning those countries, after years of fierce State dictatorships, to a rampant capitalism controlled by local mafias, resulting in the barbarization of those societies.

As an anti-communist, he had no difficulty in blessing the stadium in Santiago where thousands of policital opponents had been massacred by the butcher Pinochet, praised as a fine example of Catholic government, nor with silence over the death of Romero, or the silencing of that liberation theology which was close to the sufferings of the working class in Latin America.

Under this pope, who will be undeservedly remembered as a pacifist, several fierce world conflicts were unleashed. At least one of these, which bloodied Europe after 50 years, was directly caused by the ill-advised recognition of the fascist and nationalist secession of Croatia which sparked off a ferocious war of religion (amongst other causes).

So much for ecumenical dialogue.

Thinking back to those years of fiery sermons against the "atheists" who were responsible for the world's ills, we had to smile at JPII's recent admonitions of Bush, at this attempt to interpret the desire of all for peace by inviting Bush to soften his approach in the Middle East. The president of the United States, in fact, is an astute imitator of the arrogant policies of this pope - anti-secular (Bush is of course only too willing to substitute clerics for judges), ready to silence any murmurings of dissent with his anger. Look at the purges carried out among the Vatican's hierarchy of all those who dared speak up, cast away to the furthest corners of the empire to "serve christ" in some mission or other (if they were lucky), somewhere with plenty of work but nothing to command.

As for today, all you have to do is look at the conclave to see how Wojtyla has assured his line continues: 93% of the Cardinal electors were ordained by him. A good tyrant, an authoritarian father, a touchy king? Certainly a man who compromised his will to win with dangerous economic-political alliances, first and foremost with Communion & Liberation (CL) and all the business-minded clerics who have turned subsidiarity and devolution into an incredible font of private wealth and power. An accomodating pope happy to see the clergy intervening every area of lay distribution, in the belief that all morality and ethics must be inspired and guided by priests. A person who now, with death brought on by Parkinson's disease, now decidedly clashes with the hale and hearty image of himself of some years ago, when he thundered against another disease, AIDS, and seemed to lay the blame of its appearance on the "disorderly" human sexuality.

Except for the cover-up of the scandals which in recent years have involved the Church with accusations of paedophilia and abuse. The words of Cardinal Ratzinger during the Easter service regarding the corruption which had to be fought even within the Church, seemed indicative of the approach of a nightmare for Catholics: as if the "corruption" of the body of this pope, plastered all over the media, were uncovering at the same time all the sores that God's mastiff had been keeping under control for the last 26 years with a series of belts of the papal crozier. The presence of Cardinal "Ruini" at the deathbed appears as a presage of future "ruin". The "pro-life movement" with its hypocritical name, at the moment when efforts to keep this pope in life were becoming pathetic, now reveals its deepest significance: a desperate fear, the fear of death. The same fear that in recent days forced an American woman to have to agonize without euthanasia as a result of the religious mania of her parents.

The fear of death, the search for a guide, the melting into the mass: these elements are all mixed up in the single body of thousands of half-hypnotized people who are drawn to the big pincer-shaped magnet of Bernini's colonnade in St. Peter's Square. These elements, and the desire to be on the winning side, are the same elements which our glorious Italian Prime Minister exploits, a man who is equally skilled in the use of TV make-up and who seeks to silence his critics, or anyone who speaks freely, with a flood of accusations or simply by pulling the plug.

In a world where poverty and ignorance are exploited by unscrupulous people, skilled drovers of flocks and political hypocrites, we can understand Salman Rushdie's worry: "And perhaps... American Democrats will reach the understanding that today, in an America split right down the middle, they have more to gain by opposing the Christian Coalition and its adepts, and preventing Mel Gibson's world view from shaping social policy and American policy". Maybe some of us think it would have been fun if Cardinal Milingo could have become pope now, and got married later... it would have changed something. Instead we can only wait for the power games to give us the next non-eternal father: will it be a dark figure with a whip for the doctrine of the faith, or an accomplished organizer of inter-faith encounters in search for the conquest of souls?


Federazione dei Comunisti Anarchici
3 April 2005

by Hilaalabu Mon Apr 04, 2005 11:25 hilaalabu at yahoo dot co dot uk

Where can the Vatican/CIA next influence world politics?

Since they brought about a great deal of support for their Crusade to destroy Eorupean Communism through the ole Polish McCarthy-ite and since they brought about the practical eradication of Liberation Theology in Latin America and the Phillipines?

Millions now suffer in overcrowded flavelas since Rome stamped on those pesky "Marxixt" priests and nuns who wanted justice and decent living conditions on their be half. Replacing murdered Archbishop Oscar Romero with a right wing friend of Pinochet and "Saint" Escriva of Opus Dei, is a good example of this .

So now that Nigeria and it's region in West Africa is oil rich with the black gold Americas evil empire needs to control , we can be sure this is where the Vatican/CIA will next focus it's Crusade.

Too much Islam spreading in West Africa too. Too much freedom and too many pesky trade unions demamding west Africas oil resources remain the property of West Aftica, for the benefit of its people and not for some fat cat oil companies.

So you can bet your bottom Euro on the fact that Cardinal Francis Arinze of Nigeria will be the next Roman Pope and Chief Apostate of Satan on earth. Oppressing and deluding the poor and hysterical.

by Camillo Mon Apr 04, 2005 11:05

As an anarchist i have little to say that is good about John Paul II.

But one thing has angered me most over the last couple of days, the constant reference to John Paul II breaking Soviet Communism.

Lets get this straight, its a tragedy of humankind that the people who overthrew the totalitarian dictatorships of the Soviet Union would rather place the responsibility for that great act on the shoulders of one conservative than on their own shoulders.

John Paul II did not overthrow the Soviet system, the millions of people who took to the streets of the Soviet Union overthrew it, they had the power, not some conservative, homophobic, misogynist who lived in and apartment and city of pure gold!

I hold my anger for another day...

by John Mon Apr 04, 2005 09:36

No wonder all you leftists hate Pope John Paul. In 1978 communism was thought by many in the West to be 'the future'. It wall all-powerful. The communists had just won the Vietnam War. The West lacked resolve with leaders like Jimmy Carter. France and Italy both came close to electing communist-dominated governments. Throughout the West trade unions were causing havoc, and these were mostly controlled by communists. Latin America and Africa were considered ripe for communist takeovers. Then, the Pope from Poland came along, and the whole communist crapheap disintegrated overnight. No wonder you can't stand the man. But, millions loved him. Pope John Paul will be revered a thousand years from now when assholes like Marx, Trotsky, Lenin, Stalin, Castro et al are insignificant footnotes to history.

by amarylus et phisbe Mon Apr 04, 2005 00:27

indeedy, just as you say, watching hundreds of people go emergent spiritual public displays of morality unseen since 2003 when they thought they were pacifists is quite engaging. Throughout Europe the strangest people are singing songs, dancing dances and talking about liberty and justice, - can this mean they'll organise a caceroloda to bring him back from the dead? or just they want a new one? can anyone be pope? where's the rule book? punk pope! that's what we need, a punk pope with t-shirt and attitude to lead the 1.6 billion believers through the ethical minefield of the 21st century. where women have souls, and AIDS was a biological warfare weapon, and pinochet was a loser, and mozart even though he broke the rules on the old brotherhood and adultery thing, was finally redeemed for helping millions of kids be nice in the long run unlike chaz of cymru.

by Dionysus Sun Apr 03, 2005 20:58

I'm glad there's a voice to recall JPII's reactionary "moral values" in this time of near universal homage to "John Paul the Great". That said, even the most ardent atheist must acknowledge the late Pope's contribution to the downfall of totalianarism in eastern Europe. The author makes note of Latin American dictatorships and the Wojtila's failure to publicly denounce them. In private audiences however, he attacked their policies frankly.

The secular world's obituary to John Paul II should remember both the man's intense opposition to state oppression and his intense commitment to the spiritual oppression of his religious followers.

by Santa's Clause Sun Apr 03, 2005 20:08

According to transmissions from Vatican Radio*, a phone call at 9:30pm last night caused alarm inside the Vatican. Apparently the caller managed to connect directly to the pope’s secret pool-side extension in the Papal Suite – and was answered by Monsignor Navaja-Valls, the pope’s private secretary, who was busy ‘breaking-in’ a fresh altar-boy in the 30,000-litre vat of Holy Jizsolm.

The following transliteration** is gleaned from the body of the VR reports:

When the Monsignor, a little testy at the interruptus, demanded “Wadda de hella you wan’, huh?”, he was informed by a smooth gravelly voice at the other end, “Oh, just tell your Boss I will pop round about his Mortgage – payback is due anytime about now. Bye!”

“Bad, hooer yew?” asked the perplexed prelate, “an’ how jew gedda these number?”

“The name is Fehr, Mr. Lucci Fehr, he will remember me from his time in the seminary. And the number, well let’s just say my ‘portfolio’ includes a ‘controlling interest’ in the Swiss Guards?”

Bewildered and stung by this insolence, the Padre suffered a rush of blood - “Bad Il Papa di Roma doan’a need’a no stinking morgatch agriment, he’a run de morgatch rackkit on dis hole goddam plannit! Yew jis’ some cheap-ass punk wid nuttin’ - yew god nuttin’, jew hear!!!”

The smooth voice was undeterred, patient - “It’s true I didn’t ask for security, but at the same time I’m no fool – take a look at that Mona Lisa on the wall over your ‘baptismal’ pool, ever noticed anything about her eyes?”

Yes, they had always seemed somehow very alive, those deep dark sensuous … but as he peered closer now, Navaja saw the masterpiece’s irises twitch in a near-instantaneous electronic readjustment. Wadda de hella … ?

“Wheepin’ Jesus on’a de Cross!!” wailed the clerical gopher as he dropped the phone and scampered off to inform ‘Big-K’, toe-nails scrabbling for traction on the cold white marble, a now fully-deflated schlort beating a tattoo against his thighs as he accelerated. Back at the pool, only the punctured boy floating inert in the steaming Jizsolm could have heard the final advice from the mysterious stranger, “…to try no back-sliding; tell him all the videos will be with Al-Jazeera in the morning if he don’t pony up.” … Click!

In the executive boardroom on the top floor of St. Peter’s Cathedral Big-K and the Cardinals were baling-up the loot from that days takings in the Square. A latex-rubber wrinkly-suit hung flaccid on a peg on the wall as a tanned and fit-looking Wojtyla, still sporting his trademark wrap-around shades, worked dextrously with the ‘Caped Avenger’ Ratzinger to hoist and dump pallets of cash into a huge vibrating hopper, which connected via underground pipeline and a mighty vacuum pump straight to the vaults of Banco Ambrosiano. The fundraiser was going splendidly - and that suit only cost $300, plus the make up and a short bit of fishing-line to loop between one shoulder and the ear! Unbeatable! And, to top it all, Cardinal Sin’s backdoor-double-entry-bookkeeping system was a veritable miracle of modern accountancy – Those bleating sheep will never be ‘nun’ the wiser! Hahaha, the Pope chortled at his own unfunny joke.

Suddenly Navaja-Valls burst in through the double-doors, strip-bollock-naked, gibbering incoherently, wrathed in rising steam …

“Vot? Iz it zat time alrready?” remarked sly old Cardinal Meisner, with a heavy Teutonic wink, at which the other CEO’s burst out in peals of helpless mirth …

Finally Big-K dried his eyes and said, “OK gays***, lettuce pud these theeng’a two bet, break out’a de E’s an tabs an hit’a de pool, heh?” A rowdy cheer rose up in agreement, but was shattered by the Monsignor’s sobbing screech, “NOAH!! De gig ees so’a totally f**ked’a …!!”

“Wadda yew mean, Beech?” demanded the Pontifex.

“Dere’s’a these guy on’a de phone, Boss, says’a yew owe’a heem morgatch, godda de hole palace wired an iveerytheeng’s on’a video, an I mean IVEERY THEENG!! Calls’a heemself Lucci Fehr.”

Ice gripped Big-K’s spinal cord like a vice and his bowels slipped momentarily – how long since he’d even thought that name? His vision flashed back to Davos, 1947, when they had met at an apres-piste theology shindig, following introductions by a young American lawyer named Allan Dulles. Charmed by the older man’s obvious spirituality and promise to enable all life’s ambition, young Canon Wojtyla thought it sounded a fair bet and quickly signed the parchment scroll to give his soul in return.

At the time he had gloated secretly that the old codger would too late discover he had been duped by the poker-sharp clergyman from Krakow – once Pope he would simply ex-cathedra out that whole ‘immortal soul’ bullcrap and render Mr. Fehr’s contract worthless. Even Dulles agreed it was the perfect double-cross and the two buddies had afterwards gone out for to whoop it up downtown in celebration.

But time had slipped by so quickly on his subsequent rocket-ride to ultra-stardom – between kissing airports, smashing the decrepit USSR and oiling it up with other Western power-brokers, he had never actually gotten around to ‘fixing’ that bloody dogma. Hellfire! Perhaps that could be quickly rectified? However, no Papal Bull had ever yet been dashed off in less than an hour of fiddling about on the computer, and alas, he had been too cocksure way back then to even keep a copy of the so-called mortgage – so how to get it right? And what horrors might the small-print contain? Where were those damned canon-law lawyers when you really needed them?

At that very moment the air transformed into the chill of a meat-locker as a long shadow swooped across the windows and the leaden door-gong sounded …

With a mortal shriek the Pontifex Maximus in one bound snatched a luminous Baby Jesus off a shelf and threw himself headlong to the floor, holding it up in supplication as he half-whimpered, half-snarled some incomprehensible bribery to the softly glowing plastic. The assembled Curia shrank back with baited breath as the damp patch spread visibly across the rear of The Vicar’s purple tunic of doom … Why did those shades suddenly look so uncool?


…[to be continued]…

In next week’s episode:

Will the Scarlet Whore of Babylon be forced to ride the 10-headed Beast down into the 9th Circle of Hell, to become the plaything of imps and arch-demons, forever?

Will the Devil have his Due? Or can Luminous Baby Jesus Statue deliver a last-minute 'Get-Out-of-Hell-Free-Card' for ‘Big-K’?

How did Moshe Yetzl’s Mossad-linked ‘Friendly Cleaning Service’ get the contract for bug-sweeping the Vatican?

Will the Irish Guards now finally be drafted in to replace the Swiss Guards?

What does Michael McDowell (Prepotent Demonicrats) hope to gain from all this?

And why would Rev. Ian Paisley, on being asked for his reaction to the news, say “Thus uhs ah grade dey furr Ulsthurr!”?

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Notes:

* Technically, that may have been a Trojan dressed-up to look like Vatican Radio, but who cares?
** May contain trace amounts of poetic licence.
*** Apologies to any turd-punchers offended by this – naturally the Holy Father never intended to suggest that ALL gays are morally equivalent to Cardinals.
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Other News - All true believers, but especially farmers, are asked to pray for the ratings of RTE at this time. Goodnight.