Papal Funeral

I'm watching the broadcast from the Eternal City. Somehow Catholic Masses have some of the most moving music. I guess having had since the time of at least Gregory the Great to develop the music, they had better get it right. And the pageantry, which helped lead to the advent of the Protestant Reformation, is no less spectacular for being broadcast than I'm sure it must be to those who are witnessing it live. The body of Papa Ioannes Paulus Secundus, born Karol Józef Wojty?a, no longer lies in state, but is in his coffin, which lies in Piazza San Pietro, surrounced by an enormous congregation:





Captain Ed notes Jimmy Carter's discomfiture at being left out, and does not sympathize:

Former American presidents have a tradition of avoiding criticism of the current occupant of the White House, one which almost every ex-president has upheld, except Carter. Not only has Carter made every attempt possible to annoy Bush, he did the same thing with Bill Clinton -- remember Haiti and North Korea? He managed to mostly keep his mouth shut during Bush 41's term, but was more vocal during Reagan's years in office. After a long and well-established track record as a pain in the ass, Carter can hardly expect us to sympathize with him for being left off of a state visit to anywhere, let alone the funeral of a Pope who, as the Prowler also notes, didn't think too highly of the former President himself.

That's tellin' 'em, Cap'n!

Finally, as we bid farewell to a flawed man who nevertheless gave his life to his God, let us remember all that he has done, and let us promise ourselves, each of us, that we will also honor our values, our family, our friends, our neighbors.



Sic transit saeculum Ioannis Pauli Secundi. Requiescat in pacem.

[Cross-posted at Between Worlds]

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