# Pope Finally Passes **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 2, 2005, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-finally-passes/297437 "2005-04-02T20:00:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2005, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-finally-passes/297437/21 "2005-04-02T20:51:41Z")
Rest in peace, Your Holiness. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2005, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-finally-passes/297437/22 "2005-04-02T20:57:11Z")
> [@DarkSideoftheFloyd](#): > > Will we get to see the silver hammer (ritual? Ceremony?) covered on the news? Nope, that’s done prior to the declaration of the Pope’s death, and would have taken place in the privacy of his chambers without cameras being present. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2005, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-finally-passes/297437/23 "2005-04-02T21:23:08Z")
So then it’ll be pay-per-view? ---
**Author:** ![Unregistered\_Bull](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3da27b/32.png) [@Unregistered\_Bull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unregistered_Bull)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2005, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-finally-passes/297437/24 "2005-04-02T21:33:42Z")
May he rest in Peace. \*formerly Machetero ---
**Author:** ![dare\_devil007](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@dare\_devil007](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dare_devil007)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2005, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-finally-passes/297437/25 "2005-04-02T21:51:47Z")
I hope he rests in peace. You were a very good man, John Paul II. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2005, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-finally-passes/297437/26 "2005-04-02T22:05:53Z")
Good luck on your journey, Karol. I heard somewhere that the entire staff has to resign and the duties are taken over by undersecretaries. Is that correct? Also, that the silver hammer is used to smash the Fisherman’s Ring and a new one will be made. What does the Fisherman’s Ring look like? Is there a different design for each pope? ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2005, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-finally-passes/297437/27 "2005-04-02T22:26:35Z")
Whatever your religious beliefs (or lack thereof), what you thought of the man’s actions either in the distant past or the recent past, etc., for the last few days he was just an ailing old man in a silly dress; I’m happy that he passed without undue suffering. Rest in peace, man. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2005, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-finally-passes/297437/28 "2005-04-02T22:37:38Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > Nope, that’s done prior to the declaration of the Pope’s death, and would have taken place in the privacy of his chambers without cameras being present. I don’t even think it’s done anymore, is it? ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2005, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-finally-passes/297437/29 "2005-04-02T22:40:31Z")
_Nunc dimitis servum tuum, Domine…_ Karol W. changed the popular vision of what is expected of a Pope, having come in as far more visible, dynamic, youthful (relatively) than the traditional mold. Like any leader of an entity the like of the RCC, there was much on his plate that he just never got to address, and what he did of course could never possibly be in a way that would please everyone. For today, it is the passing of a historic figure and major world social/political leader. Whatever is Beyond, if there is a Beyond, may he face it well. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2005, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-finally-passes/297437/30 "2005-04-02T23:28:41Z")
> [@IrreverentTone](#): > > Requiescat in pace. Rest in Pace? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![gardentraveler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gardentraveler/32/3576_2.png) [@gardentraveler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gardentraveler)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2005, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-finally-passes/297437/31 "2005-04-02T23:38:09Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > I don’t even think it’s done anymore, is it? RE: the [silver hammer on the forehead](http://www.americamagazine.org/papaltransition.cfm#dies). According to the link, the latest it may have been done was with John XXIII. (The link is to an FAQ that answers lots of questions about papal transition.) GT ---
**Author:** ![WeRSauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f19dbf/32.png) [@WeRSauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WeRSauron)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2005, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-finally-passes/297437/32 "2005-04-03T00:46:19Z")
May the Holy Father be welcomed into the presence of the God he so loved and served by the Blessed Virgin Mary and all the saints. May he intercede on behalf of all of us who love and adore him and who now mourn his loss to us but rejoice in his birth in Heaven. WRS ---
**Author:** ![Abbie\_Carmichael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@Abbie\_Carmichael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abbie_Carmichael)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2005, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-finally-passes/297437/33 "2005-04-03T01:00:08Z")
> [@Mehitabel](#): > > A billion of your fellow human beings are mourning tonight. Hey, more than a billion! I’m definitely not the only Protestant in the world who is kinda sorry to see him go. (“Kinda” because he was a good Pope and so we’ve lost someone special, but not sorry because he’s with the Lord, ya know.) He was a good Christian, and I can only imagine the glory he’s seeing right now. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2005, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-finally-passes/297437/34 "2005-04-03T01:00:56Z")
the new pope designs a new ring and seal. and if i remember correctly a motto. the ring and seals must be destroyed to stop power hungry people from grabbing them and using them before everyone knows the pope is dead. in the days before instant communications, this would be quite a problem. it could take weeks or longer before everyone could be notified. ---
**Author:** ![wolfstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d6d6ee/32.png) [@wolfstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfstu)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2005, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-finally-passes/297437/35 "2005-04-03T02:48:18Z")
> [@gardentraveler](#): > > RE: the [silver hammer on the forehead](http://www.americamagazine.org/papaltransition.cfm#dies). According to the link, the latest it may have been done was with John XXIII. (The link is to an FAQ that answers lots of questions about papal transition.) > > GT On the other hand, a Catholic priest interviewed on CBC Radio yesterday listed the silver hammer ritual among the things that were going to happen when the pope died, along with smashing the ring and seal. I’m not sure which story to believe, at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2005, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-finally-passes/297437/36 "2005-04-03T07:21:31Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > I don’t even think it’s done anymore, is it? You know, it wouldn’t surprise me if they at least kept part of it. I figured that the Pope was going to be passing fairly quickly today, when the Vatican announced that he was still responding to his name. I can’t remember how they phrased it, but it certainly sounded like they were checking to see if he was still alive. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2005, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-finally-passes/297437/37 "2005-04-03T15:39:59Z")
I heard on TV this morning that they didn’t tap John Paul with the hammer, instead using modern medical techniques to decide when he was dead. Apparently, however, they did call out his name, and smash his ring with the hammer. It would appear that the silver hammer’s days a papal bludgeon are over. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-finally-passes/297437.md?page=1)