April 08, 2005

BUONO NOTTE, GIANNI PAOLO

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I've been watching the papal funeral this morning. It reminds me that the one thing I enjoyed when I was a practicing Catholic was the ceremony of it all. Something about attending high mass or assisting as an altar boy at a formal funeral always filled me with solemnity. There is a great deal to be said for ancient ritual bringing you closer to your spirituality. Immersing yourself in the rites of the church makes you feel like you are part of a divine tradition. You hear the sonorous tones of the choir. You breathe the swirling incense. The sounds of the bell tones fill your ears. There is a difference between the emotion generated by the formality of, say, a mass said in Latin and one that more resembles a high school production of "Godspell.''
It's clear from the tearful reaction of those in Vatican Square and around the world that this was a man who touched many lives. Revisionists already are chipping away at his astounding legacy, attempting to do to him in death what they could not do during his life: namely make him conform to their view of the world instead of the view he felt the world should have.
Some are making the case that that the pope should be someone from a country even farther from Rome than the Eastern Bloc:
Of the five countries with the largest Catholic populations, only one (Italy) is European. Forty-six percent of the world's Catholics are in Latin America and there are more Catholics in the Philippines than in Italy. In 1955 there were 16 million Catholics in all of Africa, today there are 120 million.

If we’re lucky, the divine Holy Spirit shall descend upon the college of cardinals and deliver us a successor who truly inspires the faithful and frees us from the bondage of sin and death.

Or they could just elect this guy:

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Posted by Jeff at April 8, 2005 06:56 AM
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