The Pope is Dope

So sue me -- I forgot to tell you about the papal audience we attended a few weeks ago. Rats.

Ok, so it was pretty f-ing cool; whether you are Catholic, Buddhist, or overweight, I think it's pretty impressive to see the leader of an entire religion. It was an early, rainy morning over Roma...

...that's pretty much it. I wish I could tell you something really, really exciting that happened, but to be perfectly honest -- I wasn't terribly impressed. Almost let down, even. We sat in a large auditorium for about two hours, eagerly anticipating the arrival of the successor of St. Peter. Bands were playing, flags were flying, cheers evolved from mere whispers amongst friends to cries of excitement as the Swiss guards positioned themselves for the entrance of Benedict XVI. It was quite the experience, don't get me wrong; but once the Holy Father sat on his holy throne, it more or less turned into a global shout-out hour. Different priests/bishops/dudes in black robes would then take turns speaking in their native tongue while addressing the Pope (and the audience). They pretty much just said "...blah blah blah, pray for us Pope."

Now don't get me wrong, I do revere the Pope and Roman Catholicism (Fr. Murphy taught me so); but I think the coolest part was after everyone had their shout-out, and we all joined in to say the Our Father in Latin. I have never taken Latin, so I mispronounced the whole prayer in its entirety, but that's beside the point. The point is, ladies and gents, that in almost half-perfect harmony...the Pope and I shared a moment. I could see the twinkle in his eye, a tear slowly caress his cheek, and a faint smile only an aging clown could discover. He then proceeded to give us his holy blessing, and give some face-time to the lucky front row fans. (It was total bullshit; we were in the nosebleeds. Whatever happened to the first shall be last, and the last shall be first? Huh, Ben?! Never heard that one before?!!!) I'm not bitter, though, because I know when all is said and done that St. Peter will call my name. And maybe then Joseph Ratzinger will be one person ahead of me, and I'll just have to cut him in line...