I Had Plans for Today

A little story I cooked up about the Pope's "miraculous" recovery, some comments about a "long-haired hippy" who gatecrashed the hospital. Altogether the stuff that would get me excommunicated if I ever decide to return to the Catholic Church.

But when I tried to post it, I got an error message saying "Javascript error" etc. Twice.

Perhaps it's the hand of a god at work?

So I'll leave you the shorter of the two articles:

In other news, US President George Bush has stepped down, admitting that his comment on the Schiavo case—that "The strong have a duty to protect the weak in a civilised world"—was "simply too ironic."

John Paul II, whatever might be said of him, was a hell of a good Pope, and a great man, though some people may not wish to admit it. I wish I were more like him than I am. And though I truly believe he should have stepped aside a decade ago, I've been glad to have him around.

Perhaps he'll be here for a little longer.

It's obvious the writer of the article at Yahoo isn't a Catholic. This serious and dramatic occasion deserves better than the "isn't this cute--my what those Cat-a-licks get up to!" tone of the piece. Most of us in the world have only known one Pope, barring the lamented John Paul I, and no other human has his influence in the world.

As I've said before, critiques of his "intolerant attitude" towards homosexuality, birth control, and other issues are unfair. He has a role and a job in the world: to stand for the Holy Mother Church in all its dealings with the outside world. To stand for what the Church (not necessarily he himself) believes, and to chart the course that that Church is to follow.

In a tumultuous world, he did a good job of keeping 'er steady.