Last time Rome went through a pope’s funeral, the eternal city witnessed another major event, to me at least, my birth. Yes, 26 years ago, whilst world leaders gathered in St-Peter’s square for the memorial service of John Paul 1st , who has been a pope for only 33 days, my mother was busy squeezing me out in this cruel world. The Italian press barely noticed me and rather focused on the shock and conspiracies theories surrounding the former pope’s death. I am fairly pleased of this connection, although my sister, Sana, managed to get born three years after, much more glamorously, during Sadat’s assassination, which again succeeded in distracting the press from family events.
And here we go again: Another pope’s funeral, only this time much grander, much noisier. I happened to be in Rome on Wednesday and witnessed part of the deluge of pilgrims the city was bracing itself for. By the weekend, Rome’s population should at least double. Countless TV programs ran biographies, talk shows, interviews, with everyone praising this pope at every opportunity. Everybody seemed to love this pope, even in the Arab world.
Really? Am I alone here in thinking that this man is a mass murder? Let’s not forget the millions dying of AIDS as a direct result of the church’s ban on condoms, the covering up of paedophilia among its ranks, its continued homophobic speech. Whilst from here we can safely ignore this lunacy as irrelevant, we cannot forget the billion followers that do take it seriously, especially the poorest and most vulnerable. Columnist Polly Toynbee published a superb article in the Guardian that goes a long way in expressing the feelings of those that like me, see this papacy, the church and religions in general with the outmost contempt. Thanks Polly.
0 Responses to “About the pope”