# Popewatch! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 1, 2005, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popewatch/287872 "2005-02-01T23:07:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2005, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popewatch/287872/1 "2005-02-01T23:07:08Z")
Pope John Paul has been taken to hospital with a serious flu bug. A flurry of media speculation is sure to follow: 1. Is this finally it? Will all those SDMB Death Poolers finally earn those elusive 16 points? 2. Who at the Vatican is waiting in the wings to wear the big hat? 3. If all the world’s Catholics pray really hard, will he get better? 4. Is this further evidence that the rumors about a torrid Pope-Hillary Clinton affair are true? 5. Is this thread in phenomenally poor taste? Only time will tell… ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2005, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popewatch/287872/2 "2005-02-01T23:11:16Z")
I vote number 5. But I’m still amused. 😉 If he is going to go, I hope he dies in peace and that his passing is quick. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2005, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popewatch/287872/3 "2005-02-01T23:31:35Z")
I should make it clear that I am NOT hoping for the Pope to die. It’s just that, given his perennial presence in the Death Pools here and elsewhere, it’s surprising that there aren’t vultures perpetually circling the Vatican. He’s a tough one, our Karol. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popewatch/287872/4 "2005-02-02T03:30:33Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Pope John Paul has been taken to hospital with a serious flu bug. A flurry of media speculation is sure to follow: > > 1. Is this finally it? Will all those SDMB Death Poolers finally earn those elusive 16 points? > 2. Who at the Vatican is waiting in the wings to wear the big hat? > 3. If all the world’s Catholics pray really hard, will he get better? > 4. Is this further evidence that the rumors about a torrid Pope-Hillary Clinton affair are true? > 5. Is this thread in phenomenally poor taste? > > Only time will tell… 1. He’s pretty tough, he could pull through. 2. I have no idea but I predict they will try to go with someone young. By “young”, I mean not already over 65. 3. Hey, it’s possible. I know a Catholic who together with many of her parrish prayed for 8 hours on election day for Bush to win. I wonder if the Pope is worth the same effort? (Back when I was a Catholic, we were much less “intense”.) 4. It’s the Pope-Mobile, chicks dig the Pope-Mobile. 5. Yesh ---
**Author:** ![Squonk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squonk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squonk)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popewatch/287872/5 "2005-02-02T04:57:46Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > 1. If all the world’s Catholics pray really hard, will he get better? Not if they have him in their death pools. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popewatch/287872/6 "2005-02-02T06:52:54Z")
Have I mentioned that Montreal has the World’s Largest Free-standing Pope Health-O-Meter? Seriously, the big cross on Mount Royal has fibre-optic lighting that will turn purple when the pope dies. (It’s usually white.) That will be quite the sight, I must say. (It hasn’t been used yet, since it was installed in 1992.) ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popewatch/287872/7 "2005-02-02T13:27:55Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > Have I mentioned that Montreal has the World’s Largest Free-standing Pope Health-O-Meter? > > Seriously, the big cross on Mount Royal has fibre-optic lighting that will turn purple when the pope dies. (It’s usually white.) That will be quite the sight, I must say. (It hasn’t been used yet, since it was installed in 1992.) _Really?_ They’re not going to do a countdown like New Years Eve in Times Square, though, are they? That would be tacky. Who’s responsible for flipping the switch over to purple? And were the purple lights really installed just for the purpose of informing our city of the Pope’s passing? ---
**Author:** ![Iceland\_Blue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/4bbf92/32.png) [@Iceland\_Blue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iceland_Blue)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popewatch/287872/8 "2005-02-02T13:52:32Z")
Ooh ooh I spotted a Pope… there’s one over there…ticks it off on his Spot-A-Pope chart… Oh wait. That wasn’t what the thread meant was it…slinks away to spot elsewhere ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popewatch/287872/9 "2005-02-02T14:54:06Z")
Well, the Vatican says it was just a little fever and there’s no cause for alarm. So I guess the Pope springs eternal. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popewatch/287872/10 "2005-02-02T15:29:58Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > 1. If all the world’s Catholics pray really hard, will he get better? No one had time to pray for John Paul I, and most Catholics prayed for a merciful death for Paul VI. As I recall, it didn’t help John XXIII though, and everyone liked him. > [@Gyrate](#): > > 1. Is this further evidence that the rumors about a torrid Pope-Hillary Clinton affair are true? Hillary collapses on Monday, JP goes to the hospital on Tuesday. Must have been one hell of a weekend! ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popewatch/287872/11 "2005-02-02T16:36:58Z")
I heard the Pope killed a guy back in the 80’s and then paid this one dude to cover it up. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popewatch/287872/12 "2005-02-02T17:12:11Z")
I heard the Pope shot an elephant in his pajamas. (According to the most recent bulletin from the Vatican, everything’s fine and there’s nothing to worry about and the Pope just needs to stay in the hospital for the next few days “as a precaution”. Huh.) ---
**Author:** ![Jimson\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@Jimson\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimson_Jim)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popewatch/287872/13 "2005-02-02T17:46:49Z")
Someone’s got to ask it: What was an elephant doing in the pope’s pajamas? ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popewatch/287872/14 "2005-02-02T18:10:20Z")
> [@Kythereia](#): > > I heard the Pope shot an elephant in his pajamas. > > (According to the most recent bulletin from the Vatican, everything’s fine and there’s nothing to worry about and the Pope just needs to stay in the hospital for the next few days “as a precaution”. Huh.) Whenever they (Meaning, The Press Agents) release a tidbit like this, I just _know_ something is wrong. Look at Brad & Jen. In the last issue of People, they were all lovey dovey and doing good. Now…they are in splitsville. I think the Pope had something to do with it. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popewatch/287872/15 "2005-02-02T18:17:10Z")
> [@Shirley Ujest](#): > > Look at Brad & Jen. In the last issue of People, they were all lovey dovey and doing good. Now…they are in splitsville. > > I think the Pope had something to do with it. The Pope had an affair with Brad!??!?!!