Holy Shit.

Alright, so unless you've been living under a rock the past couple of days, everyone knows that the Pope has passed away. Some people think that's a big deal, and other people are like, "It's about damn time." And still there are some people who are like, "What's a Pope?"

I, being the cynical, liberal Catholic that I am, thought the Pope was already dead for like two years already, and was only being held up by a bunch of cardinals with puppet strings screaming to themselves, "Make his mouth move, make it move!!!" :-)

In all seriousness, despite the fact I really don't care much for anything coming out of the Vatican (especially after my trip to Rome, where I saw, first hand, all the crap the Catholic Church has done in the name of God), part of me felt a bit down once I first heard word of the Pope's passing. Sure, I felt like John Paul II was a bit of a ancient lunkhead with his insistence on banning all forms of contraception in light of the AIDS epidemic, or his restructuring of the Church that centered all power in Rome, leaving the rest of the Catholic Church isolated (thus, helping to cause the ridiculous priest sex scandals in the US), but there was a part of me that admired the man. He was just a good person. With all the touring he was doing during his Papacy, he began to realize that the key to bringing the Church into the 21st Century was by embracing youth culture. So, that's when he began inviting people to break dance at the Vatican, and started things like, "Holy Text Messaging" (you could actually get text messages from the Pope, and he'd give you words of encouragement). He also was a man who reached across all faiths and tried, in earnest, to appeal to other religions in order to bring about understanding and peace between peoples of different creeds. (The first Pope ever to visit the Arab world.) Pope John Paul II was simply, a cool old man. :-)

So, here's one to my meng, the Pope. We all know he's up in Heaven, doing his thing, and chasing after mad girls. (Because, you know, that's what God rewards good Popes with in Heaven; youth, and a lot of tail. :-) )