As a Catholic this is a very sad day. For those who are not Catholic or even Christian, it seems to be a very sad day as well.

This was not just a man that was head of The Church, he was a world leader in efforts of peace. His kindness and sincerity of his message surpass anything I have witnessed in my lifetime.

I'm sure heaven has one more wonderful soul today.

RIP, Holy Father.

I did think of you last night when I heard the newsabout the Pope, Bo B, and although I am not very religious I did think he was a very special kind of man, who did lots of good for the world.

Oddly the first person I thought of was you BBB when I heard the news. He was a good and holy man, though I had a few differences of view with him, and a great force for peace. I've been saying prayers for the Catholics who are grieving at this time for the last few days, and more so now.

I also thought of BBB when I heard that he had passed.

He was a great man and will be missed by many catholics and noncatholics alike.

Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers and kind words.

You know it's funny cause I don't agree with or follow everything the church believes.... I figure nothing is perfect in life....

I wish there were more sincere leaders/clergy of all faiths that would join to bring peace to the world! I know there are many we never hear of but it would be great to see more people like Pope John Paul II really affect people!

Now, I pray we get a new Pope who can continue in his efforts! It's a bit scary to think of who could be next! Especially with all of the controversy in some areas of Catholocism....

Amazing.. I too thought of all the Catholic people I know. ;) Bo B being on the list. ;)

I was just thinking about some of what we are seeing on television. If anyone is watching the ceremonies and have any questions..... please feel free to ask. I think I could probably answer them.

I was watching the cardinals proceed into the square and this is a very memorable and special time... they were chanting in latin. What that "chant" was is really a meditation and probably my favorite one. It's called the Litany of the Saints.

The leader says a Saint's name like "St. Francis Assisi" and the group responds "Pray for us!"

They go through a list of saints or the entire list over a length of time (this week they will probably go through the entire list as the cardinals come in for the services)....

At Mass we do this on special occassions like Funerals and certain holy days.


I am very interested in different cultures and forms of religious ceremony. It's always interesting to me to understand the reasons or what exactly is going on in these things..... so I thought I'd share with you :)

I like finding out things like that too... I like it when I read a book and find obscure references to religions and things... i.e. since Frankenstein is my study subject atm... in Frankie the creature says something along the lines of "I shall commit sati", this is with reference to the Hindu "tradition" that the widow will throw herself onto her late husband's cremation (sati) which was outlawed by the British colonial government in the late 1700s, I think!
In fact, this wasn't as common practice as was inferred, and I think it was basically to undermine the Hindu religion as being mad, archaic and backward compared to the Christian religions, who would never consider such an undignified display of feeling.
Anyways, that's off topic...
It's very interesting to learn new things and I was very sorry to hear about the passing of Pope John Paul II. He did a lot of good work in his time...

Exactly what I was thinking along the lines of Ang! I love finding those little references and just learning through some unconventional means!

I can't just read a book, I have to know everything they discuss if it's got another culture or something in it!

That's a really cool piece of info you describe!