The Pope is dead.  I know this because I heard something about it on the news.  In fact I heard a lot of something about it, and not much about anything else…

Nothing kills a story like the news media, ey?

I was once a Catholic, and for a time in my life the Pope was a powerful religious figure for me.  Even in my departure from Catholicism I still recognize that he was a great and virtuous man, who did much good in the world.  On the other hand, I have long disliked his attitude toward women.  Nobody's perfect, I guess.

Hopefully the next Pope will be one who will modernize the Catholic Church and bring it more in touch with reality.  I don't hold out much hope for that, but hey, it's not my problem anymore!

Anyway, I've been spending a lot of time with the news switched off lately… it's not that I bear the Pope any ill will, just that I'm in the “enough already” stage of this particular story.

Many are reduced to tears by the whole affair, a lot of people really loved the guy, clearly.  As for myself, the only thing that brought tears to my eyes was the news that both the presidents of Iran and Syria shook hands with the president of Israel and spoke of peace.  Will anything come of that?  I hope so… that region of the world has seen enough war.