Pope John Paul II

[Craig.]

He has died now. the vatican confirmed it.

[Omag 2.0]

Just heard the news, official this time...

[C]

Inevitable, yet still very sad indeed.

[jrpilot]

did the old man die yet?

I hope you don't mean that out of disrespect...

[Felix/FFDS]

Just think - this is the only Pope that MS Flight Simulator has known ....

For that matter, apart from all the geopolitical changes during his tenure, just reflect on how our own daily lives have changed over the past 26 and a half years (not that the changes are related to his papacy).

(Note that an even more startling changes could be noted if one takes the reigns of Queens Victoria and Elizabeth II)

[Loafing Smurf]

I just heard the news, the Pope passed around 6:00 at the Vatican.

As a Catholic, I'm really honored to see amount of concern over the matter.

[C]

From the Papal Spokesman,

"The Holy Father died this evening at 9:37 p.m. [edit. Rome local] (2:37 p.m. EST) in his private apartment. All the procedures outlined in the apostolic Constitution `Universi Dominici Gregis' that was written by John Paul II on Feb. 22, 1996, have been put in motion,"

[beaky]

He certainly was a "people's Pope"; he'll be missed. But man, he was sick for a long time.. his suffering is over.

[Loafing Smurf]

my bad

"The Holy Father died this evening at 9:37 p.m. [edit. Rome local] (2:37 p.m. EST) in his private apartment. All the procedures outlined in the apostolic Constitution `Universi Dominici Gregis' that was written by John Paul II on Feb. 22, 1996, have been put in motion,"  

[Scottler]

Ya know, it's funny.  I'm not Catholic, and I'm not an OVERLY religious guy, but the passing of the Pope just breaks my heart.  Weird, huh?

[Loafing Smurf]

Well, I'm been raised as a Catholic and still go to Church every Sunday. I knew I'd feel bad about his death, but I feel more effected than I anticipated.

[jrpilot]

What I don't understand, as a human, is why the media was pretty much guessing his death since they wanted him dead just so they got viewers...

[Saitek]

As much as my views on the pope are so contraversial I am noyt allowed to post them I think the media loved talking about him as sick and were rtying to make the most of his suffering and death to clock up viewers/readers which I find distasteful.

[Omag 2.0]

It's another point in history we all will remember...

And it's the constant reminder of what's happening that makes so many people more involved in this event.

No matter my views on the church, I still can't help beeing touched by all of this... weird in a sense...

[Hagar]

The "Media" loves this sort of thing. It brings in the viewers & sells newspapers. Every news organisation in the world has had tributes & features prepared for this moment for a very long time. The same will happen the next time anyone famous dies. Get used to it. This is the way things are now. You're not forced to watch TV, listen to the radio or read the papers if it upsets you. This is why I rarely watch TV, especially news programmes.

I wonder how the word would have been spread many years ago when there was no radio, TV, newspapers or Internet?