all i have to say about johnny p II is that no one can top him unless they bust out mircles left and right and claim them to be the second comming of christ, but what strikes me is that the vatican is trying to prevent a young guy to become pope and having a nice long rule of thumb for the catholics. and with the list i saw of the pope canidates i have an idea who it will be but i won't say anything about that because i could be wrong. but i found out something interesting he was the last one in his family to carry the name go figure on that one due to RULES the pope can't get a his freak on but they don't tell you that HAHA out of 265 popes that this world has had who actually got their freak hmmm the world may never know.

But in all seriousness he was the best and in the words of a great guy i met one day next to store on the south side of east street 5 blocks from 34th and main "Best of the Best">

I will pray for him, but i don't quite agree with his religous thoughts, i would like to know why would you praise Mary the Mother of Jesus Christ, when she wasn't the one who died on the cross for us, i don't get that, you can givee Mary a round of applause, but i don't think putting her abouve Jesus Christ Our Lord And Savior .

Okay, here's my two cents on the subject. One person mentioned earlier that he was more of a political figure than a religious one. The position of Pope means that this man has to constantly be straddling the line between politics and religion in just about every matter that comes before him. I am not Catholic, but I admire the fact that he was, as is evidenced by some of the comments of this thread, able to reach all parts of the world to try and bring either the message or the encouragement that his visit brought. I feel that his life was one very well spent in doing the Lord's work.

Mythology never dies, it is merely reappropriated. Mary is Mary of biblical fame, but she is also Isis, Demeter, and a host of other goddesses that represent motherliness (or concievably, chastity). Folks educated in this realm will notice the similarities between depictions of Isis with her son Horus and depictions of Mary with baby Jesus. The Roman Catholic church has integrated all sorts of non-Christian mythology into its tradition over the centuries, and like all traditional Catholic beliefs, it doesn't die easy.

These beliefs are rationalized by the idea that Mary was an extraordinarily holy woman, and therefore has clout with the big guy(s) up there. So, if you pray to Mary, she can intercede on your behalf. Ever wonder why Catholics pray to saints, who were merely human, after all? Same concept.

However, I infer that you subscribe to a more Fundamentalist Protestant view of religion. As such, your church probably takes most of its cues directly from the Bible, which has its own fair share of non-Christian-influence (and I'm not merely referring to Judaism here).

Furthermore, an analogy can be made to Islam. According to Muslim beliefs, Jesus was a great prophet, not the son of God. Mohammed was an even greater prophet. Therefore, your asking why a Catholic would make such a fuss over Mary when he should be focussing on Jesus is like a Muslim asking a Protestant why he is making such a fuss over Jesus when he should be focussing on Mohammed. Except that Protestants never integrated Mohammed into their mythology, but whatever, you see my point (I hope).

One last note: you call him "Our Lord And Savior" (capitalizing the "And" for some reason), which is quite presumptuous. While I acknowledge completely that he is your lord and savior, I take issue with the declaration that he is lord and savior to us all. Thankfully, I have no lord, and the only savior I can think of is my ex-uncle's Mormon girlfriend who pulled me out of the water when I was drowning in her pool as a kid.

I'm terribly sad that the Pope is gone--he was a great man with pure ideas. Yet I'm also happy that he's gone because nobody should live that long and in that state. May his God rest his soul.

And he will, I'm sure.

I recently learned how they hold the Conclave to decide the next Pope. All of the Cardinals stay together in a church with no outside contact. The doors are locked. There's black smoke coming from the chimney. When they have chosen, they write the name on a piece of paper and throw it into the fire along with some powder that turns the smoke white. They're choosing the next leader from THEIR ranks for an entire religion and NOBODY else gets a say!

I think it's interesting, but, like most other traditions, somewhat ridiculous.