Pope John Paul dies Pope John Paul II has died, the Vatican has announced. The 84-year-old Pontiff, who had headed the Roman Catholic Church for 26 years, died at 9.37 p.m (8.37 p.m. British time), a statement said on Saturday. "The Holy Father died this evening at 21.37 in his private apartment," the statement said. The news was immediately announced to huge crowds gathered in St Peter's Square. John Paul will be remembered for his role in the collapse of communism in Europe and his unyielding defence of traditional Vatican doctrines as leader of the world's 1.1 billion Catholics. Huge crowds had staged a tearful vigil in St. Peter's Square, praying for a man already being dubbed by some Catholics as "John Paul the Great". The Pope's health had deteriorated steadily over the past decade and earlier this year took a sharp turn for the worse. The Pontiff, once a lithe athlete and powerful speaker, was already racked by arthritis and Parkinson's Disease, his voice often reduced to a raspy whisper. He was rushed to hospital twice in February and had to have a tracheotomy to ease serious breathing problems. But he never regained his strength from the operation and failed dramatically on two occasions to address crowds at St. Peter's Square. On Wednesday doctors inserted a feeding tube into his stomach to try boost his energy levels. A day later he developed a urinary infection and high fever that soon precipitated heart failure, kidney problems and ultimately death
Just think how many hungry people could be fed off the back of the Catholic Churches wealth.... *ponders* But yes, it's sad when someone dies... Rest in Peace Popey
I didn't really know much about the Pope but after he passed I was unsure. I don't know how to feel. it was his time to go and he's def. going to heaven but a death is a sad thing. I'm confised.
I couldn't really give a monkeys..Could be worse...He was 84 he had a long good life..Life goes on...just not for him.... and if the catholics are right, well then he is now up in heaven having the time of his life... but what if they are wrong....what if the muslims, or the sikhs are right....Jeez is he fucked then....
nicely put koolaid! i mean the guy was dying on/off for the past few years maybe hes in a better place
Give me the evidence to prove either way and sure... I'll make my mind up As it is... I'd rather concentrate on the here and now
Oh, he was great. I liked how he was extremly opposed to condoms, telling millions of people not to use them, causing vast numbers of people to die painfully and early due to AIDs. The anti-gay and lesbian rights were also a good point of the pope, helping the world to hate each other for who we really are. And then there was then anti-female rights stance he had, another strong point of Popey MaGee. He did make a good cup of tea though...
Very well said ... organised religion is one of the greatest forces for bigotry, hatred and ignorance in the world today. It's always sad when someone ups stumps and retires to the pavilion, but let's not go overboard about his legacy, shall we?
As several people have pointed out, everyone dies, and since I'm not Roman Catholic the death of this pope means very little to me personally. But a couple of points I noticed while watching the Channel 5 news yesterday afternoon... Tony Blaire and George Bush have both been delivering speeches about how much of a great loss the death of the pope has been, and how much of a brilliant man he was. Blaire has even delayed calling a general election "out of respect for the pope." Isn't this a bit hypercritical? Tony Blaire's a member of the Church of England who got rid of the pope, and I'm not sure about George Bush but I'm pretty certain he's not a Catholic. Apparently though, all of the seperate Christian churches are "putting aside their differences," in order to mourne for the pope. Hey, if that's what it takes, then maybe popes should die a bit more often. Finally, there was a brief report concerning a bomb attack, so swift and vague was the report that I can't remember even where it took place. But for a few seconds they showed a film clip of a street with fire and broken windows, and I remember the voice over saying: "...bomb attack...three dead, seven injured...and now back to our main story, the death of the pope..." Does this world ever seem slightly unjust to you?
