John Paul The Great

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He survived more or less intact but the Bleriot 11 was not as fortunate.

Regarding the nonsense concerning the death of JPII, what can I say? I plead guilty. But I remember that as I wrote it I had in the back of my mind the picture of a young girl who had just witnessed an appearance of JPII in the Vatican window. After listening to the mostly unintelligable mumblings emmanating from the revered old man in the window she was suddenly presented with a video camera in her face and the question of her reaction to the Pope's little homily. She shrugged hoplessly as if to say, 'I will never understand you adults.'

It was a clear case of, 'the pope wears no panties.'

Why am I writing about this embarrassing moment in Catholic history? I suppose it is because I see JPII as 'John Paul The Great.' Although I am not a believer any more it still pains me to see him this way and to see the people behaving this way. I do not believe that the pain of death is in any way 'redemptory.' It is ugly. True, some exceptional people manage to die beautifully, in hospices, occasionally. But they are the exception. The process itself is ugly. Nature never bothered to adorn that process with beauty for obvious reasons, and if some few can manage it then they are exceptional.