# Pope John Paul II has died. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 1, 2005, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-john-paul-ii-has-died/297273 "2005-04-01T18:34:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2005, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-john-paul-ii-has-died/297273/21 "2005-04-01T18:51:07Z")
[CNN.com](http://CNN.com) now says “Vatican: Pope in deteriorating condition.” I just refreshed it. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2005, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-john-paul-ii-has-died/297273/22 "2005-04-01T18:51:29Z")
> [@Kythereia](#): > > What will happen next if the Pope dies? The Cardinals will elect a new Pope. ---
**Author:** ![jk1245](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/49beb7/32.png) [@jk1245](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jk1245)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2005, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-john-paul-ii-has-died/297273/23 "2005-04-01T18:51:49Z")
Didn’t it go this way with Ararfat too? “He’s dead…no wait…he’s not…Now he is…I stand corrected…” News outlets have to be the first with the scoop. In any event, Godspeed JPII\* \*How he autographed a baseball when in the US ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2005, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-john-paul-ii-has-died/297273/24 "2005-04-01T18:52:07Z")
Fox is saying his brain and heart are still functioning. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2005, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-john-paul-ii-has-died/297273/25 "2005-04-01T18:52:30Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > I felt badly for him, _despite_ all the horrible things he has said about me, my family and my friends for the past 25 years. Don’t take it so personally. It’s just business. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2005, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-john-paul-ii-has-died/297273/26 "2005-04-01T18:53:54Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > MSNBC is reporting that he has “lost consciousness.” > > ABC is saying that he is “running out of steam” while Fox is reporting that he’s died. > > I’m not a Catholic, but I wish him well on his journey. He worked long at a hard job. Fox is **not** reporting he’s dead as of this timestamp. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2005, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-john-paul-ii-has-died/297273/27 "2005-04-01T18:54:08Z")
I guess I’d better take photos of my _The Life Of Pope John Paul II_ comic books for sale on eBay. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2005, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-john-paul-ii-has-died/297273/28 "2005-04-01T18:54:26Z")
I figured they would get a new pope 😉 I just wanted to know the specifics–which I found shortly after. Thanks! _smooches to all_ Requiescant in pace… ---
**Author:** ![Improv\_Geek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b3f665/32.png) [@Improv\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Improv_Geek)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2005, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-john-paul-ii-has-died/297273/29 "2005-04-01T18:54:39Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Don’t take it so personally. It’s just business. Do you dislike the Pope or the faith or something? Just wondering why you’re not being more respectful of a man on his death bed. He’s a person too, whether he is a leader of your faith or not. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2005, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-john-paul-ii-has-died/297273/30 "2005-04-01T18:56:07Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > Fox is saying his brain and heart are still functioning. Perhaps the Vatican will consider donating these to Fox news. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2005, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-john-paul-ii-has-died/297273/31 "2005-04-01T18:58:05Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > Did he have any family or friends around him? Apparently no family. His parents and sibling(s) were all dead by 1940. From [here](http://www.archden.org/dcr/archive/20020828/2002082806wn.htm): > [@](#): > > There were not many other close relatives after he lost his parents. He kept in touch with a maternal cousin during his ecclesiastical career, but his election as pope in 1978 put a new distance between them. > > “You are the only one still living of my closest family,” he wrote to her after the conclave. Now “God has decreed that I remain in Rome,” he said. > > Two of the cousin’s daughters, waving timidly, were at the gravesite when the pope visited. I doubt if he had friends as we would understand it; I would think anyone he was close to would also be church people. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2005, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-john-paul-ii-has-died/297273/32 "2005-04-01T19:00:14Z")
QuickSilver, there are plenty of Pit threads regarding the Pope where there is plenty of room for you to crap all over. Please remove your ugly comments from MPSIMS. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2005, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-john-paul-ii-has-died/297273/33 "2005-04-01T19:00:20Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > MSNBC is reporting that he has “lost consciousness.” > > ABC is saying that he is “running out of steam” while Fox is reporting that he’s died. Nurse! 500CC’s of steam - _stat!_ ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2005, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-john-paul-ii-has-died/297273/34 "2005-04-01T19:00:21Z")
Apparently, the Vatican is now denying earlier Italian media reports. An earlier report said he had a flat EEG but the Vatican is saying he’s still alive. It’s like Arafat all over again. In any case, it looks like it’s a matter of hours if not minutes. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2005, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-john-paul-ii-has-died/297273/35 "2005-04-01T19:01:25Z")
> [@ronincyberpunk](#): > > Do you dislike the Pope or the faith or something? Just wondering why you’re not being more respectful of a man on his death bed. He’s a person too, whether he is a leader of your faith or not. I’m not jumping for joy over his passing. Not the least bit. It’s the media circus that makes me crazy. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2005, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-john-paul-ii-has-died/297273/36 "2005-04-01T19:01:41Z")
> [@Kythereia](#): > > I figured they would get a new pope … Hey, that gets me thinking. Didn’t we do a thread recently on what you would do if somehow you were elected pope? ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2005, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-john-paul-ii-has-died/297273/37 "2005-04-01T19:03:04Z")
I’ve been wondering how he would go, ever since he developed Parkinson’s. Had he been placed on heroic life support, the situation could have gotten really ugly politically, exemplified by obvious recent events. By refusing to return to the hospital, he appears to have guaranteed himself a dignified, peaceful death. Thank goodness. ---
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2005, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-john-paul-ii-has-died/297273/38 "2005-04-01T19:03:15Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > I felt badly for him, _despite_ all the horrible things he has said about me, my family and my friends for the past 25 years. That’s pretty Impressive, **Eve**. I couldn’t even get the parish priest annoyed, and you and your entire family pissed off the Pope! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2005, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-john-paul-ii-has-died/297273/39 "2005-04-01T19:03:36Z")
> [@Nightwatch Trailer](#): > > [http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=1737](http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=1737) > > As a Catholic, I’m certainly sorry to see him go, but if the reports are true, I’m glad his suffering is over. > > Rest in peace. A quote from that story: “As late as 1903, at the death of Pope Leo XIII, a pope’s death was verified by striking the pontiff’s forehead with a silver hammer.” I guess that is one way to verify if someone is dead. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2005, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-john-paul-ii-has-died/297273/40 "2005-04-01T19:05:06Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > QuickSilver, there are plenty of Pit threads regarding the Pope where there is plenty of room for you to crap all over. Please remove your ugly comments from MPSIMS. You can always click the report this post button, instead of playing junior mod. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-john-paul-ii-has-died/297273.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-john-paul-ii-has-died/297273.md?page=3)