[thipfan73]

Yes, I know, there was a thread a while back talking about Stephen Dame's letter in the globe and mail about the Pope when he was sick a while back. We argued about retiring popes.

Now that the Pope is in his last hours I felt it was necessary to start a new thread.

As I said in Stephen's thread, I saw the Pope in Montreal in the early 80's and I was truly honored and it still is one of my most cherish memories.

Even though I am a recovering catholic, because like an Alcoholic, you never really recover, I still have an immense love and respect for the Pope.

I am very sad that he is dying, but I do believe it is his time and I have so much respect for how he is handling it.

EDIT: The Pope has passed on

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[tragicallymike]

Yeah its Sad but the Pope is such an amazing person. He is going out on his terms which is nice.

[Stephen Dame]

There's a vigil downtown at Notre Dame Cathedral here tonight, and at the outdoor basillica, "Grottes Des Lourdes," in nearby Vanier.

The guy was a fighter who earned his rest.

[chicagoblackhawks77]

I'm a history teacher and a catholic. You can say what you will about the institution of the papacy, I know there have been some bad ones..... But this guy was the real deal. Pious in his life growing up poor in poland. Suffering the Nazi occupation in the late 30's and 40's. Being a priest in a poor rural community, the cardinal of krakow, his early years as the pope standing up for the solidarity movement in communist poland. This guy was the man.

Thank you Karol. You were a beautiful man with a wonderful mind.

Mick

[Stephen Dame]

I'm a history teacher and a catholic. You can say what you will about the institution of the papacy, I know there have been some bad ones..... But this guy was the real deal. Pious in his life growing up poor in poland. Suffering the Nazi occupation in the late 30's and 40's. Being a priest in a poor rural community, the cardinal of krakow, his early years as the pope standing up for the solidarity movement in communist poland. This guy was the man.

Thank you Karol. You were a beautiful man with a wonderful mind.

Mick

Yep, a truly monumental figure in world history, and a guy who let nothing stop him from doing what he felt was God's mission for him on earth.

And just in case you needed more proof: it's been 36 hours since Italian radio first wrongly pronounced him dead... and he is STILL fighting. Like I wrote before, the next guy is going to have quite a pair of shoes to fill.

[Dilly_sAm]

I was in St. Peter's square last week when he tried to address the crowd....I have never felt so bad for any human being before in my life...his great life has come to the end of its cycle, and so it shall end. It is truly a miracle that he has stayed with us this long.

[Stephen Dame]

I was in St. Peter's square last week when he tried to address the crowd....I have never felt so bad for any human being before in my life...his great life has come to the end of its cycle, and so it shall end. It is truly a miracle that he has stayed with us this long.

Wow, that musta been something. What were you there for?

A decidedly unrelegious buddy of mine had this line today, I don't think I've ever heard better: "The dude knows 15 languages and doesn't know 'quit' in any of 'em."

[Lizard King]

He's dead, its over.

[prz]

The Pope has passed away. RIP Karol

[Dr. J]

Like many, I didn't always agree with him, but I always admired him. He was a good man RIP

[direwolf74]

A decidedly unrelegious buddy of mine had this line today, I don't think I've ever heard better: "The dude knows 15 languages and doesn't know 'quit' in any of 'em."

That's a great line. I couldn't agree more. I'm not the least bit religious, but I think he was a great man. May he rest in peace. The new Pope is gonna have some gigantic shoes to fill, that's for sure.

[j-monster]

I'm a Catholic, but have drifted away from the Church recently. Still, I've always admired this Pope, and it is a sad day on earth that he has passed away... but I do believe it's a joyful day in heaven as they welcome him into the fold.

Pope John Paul II - Karol Wojtyla - rest in peace.

[senschic]

I'm very sad that he's gone. But I know that he is in a better place now. RIP Pope John Paul II

[Dilly_sAm]

I was in St. Peter's square last week when he tried to address the crowd....I have never felt so bad for any human being before in my life...his great life has come to the end of its cycle, and so it shall end. It is truly a miracle that he has stayed with us this long.

Wow, that musta been something. What were you there for?

A decidedly unrelegious buddy of mine had this line today, I don't think I've ever heard better: "The dude knows 15 languages and doesn't know 'quit' in any of 'em."

School trip that just happened to be in the right place at the right time. The sad thing is the importance of the event was lost on most of my purile classmates.