Are you impressed by Pope John Paul II?

by GermanXJW 40 Replies latest social current

• 

  fairchild

  and fairchild, just an inquiring mind wanting to know, what's with the empty picture frames.....does that mean something..or was it just something that was done in the whitepope house???

  I'm not sure. I went to a catholic school. One time, we were learning things about the vatican, and I clearly remember the teacher telling the story about the empty picture frames. I will relate what I can remember of it, but I think that the teacher might have been reading the tabloids or something. Come to think of it, I first mentioned that I heard the story during the reign of John paul I, but I'm positive now that it was during the reign of the pope who was before him. (can't come up with his name right now).

  Mind you, I am just relating something a teacher told us in school. The story might have been a product of her imagination for all I know.

  Here goes. Once upon a time they built this place for the pope to live. It was called the vatican. Now, the vatican is huge, and other than it being a home for the pope, it is also a home to many pieces of rather expensive art, including tapistry, paintings and sculptures. The vatican contains several painting galleries. There is one gallery that has always had a number of empty picture frames. Every time a pope died they would put a painting, depicting him, in an empty frame. Nobody knows who came up with the idea of the picture frames, and more important, nobody ever knew who came up with the number of frames. Neither did anyone know if there was a meaning attached to this number or not, but many people have speculated that something huge would happen (the end?) upon filling the last picture frame. Some believe(d) that the amount was divine, that it was God himself who had made sure that there would be a certain amount, fitting His purposes. The teacher told us that there were 3 empty frames left. Then the pope who preceeded John Paul I died (Sorry I forgot his name). I remember getting scared but thinking thank goodness, we still have two empty frames. However, John paul I didn't last long at all. Now I remember getting completely terrified. Only one more picture frame left... waiting for John Paul II.

  Of course I'm not as gullable anymore as I used to be, but I was just wondering if anyone had ever heard this story..
• 

  Valis

  He should have stepped in a long time ago and addressed the pedophilia issue and he SHOULD stop carting pedophile priests off to foriegn lands where they can keep plying their sick fantasies on small children of the Catholic faith. Sure, he's playing the Peter role of not giving up, but at the same time he is hindering the process of finding a replacement that will hopefully be more dilligent about clearing away the pedophile problem that still exists. Just my 2 cents.

  Sincerely,

  District Overbeer
• 

  Sweetp0985

  wow fairchild, never heard of anything like that....well i hope that since you heard of the empty picture frames they have added some more....but if they didn't...dun dun dun dunnnnnnnn....maybe the end IS really near
• 

  fairchild

  wow fairchild, never heard of anything like that....well i hope that since you heard of the empty picture frames they have added some more....but if they didn't...dun dun dun dunnnnnnnn....maybe the end IS really near

  *starts building underground shelter* All JWD members welcome, might want to bring some canned foods.
• 

  Sweetp0985

  might want to bring some canned foods.

  no spam please...i hate that stuff
• 

  fairchild

  hmm.. spam isn't all that bad on a sandwich with tomatoes and cheese added.

  Oh, and don't forget a canopener as well. Mine is getting old from opening all my Y2K food supplies.
• 

  PopeOfEruke

  Pope JP II is a good pope, but not as good as me.

  The Pope of Eruke
• 

  AuntieJane

  Does anyone here really know the history of Pope John Paul II? How he worked for World Peace? He was instrumental in the destruction of communism. There was a documentary on him a couple nights ago. I think it was CNN.

  He is highly respected by world leaders. He was the first Pope to visit a synagogue and have a friendship with the Jewish people; he was the first to visit the Auschwitz memorial. He is a brilliant man. An emotional man who loves children. He may not be able to communicate now, but during his working years he was a great communicator. He speaks 8 languages and knows how to use the media to spread his word on World Peace and morality. He is a respected man of integrity.

  Maybe he should have been replaced; I don't see how anyone in his apparent poor health can lead a church, but I will defend what he has done for the church and the world in general.
• 

  the_classicist

  He should have stepped in a long time ago and addressed the pedophilia issue and he SHOULD stop carting pedophile priests off to foriegn lands where they can keep plying their sick fantasies on small children of the Catholic faith. Sure, he's playing the Peter role of not giving up, but at the same time he is hindering the process of finding a replacement that will hopefully be more dilligent about clearing away the pedophile problem that still exists.

  Not really that simple. Think of it this way: in each diocese, a bishop is like a pope. The pope cannot even fire a bishop, he must resign. He can move the bishop to another diocese but he can never fire them. Of course, he could excommunicate, but thats rarely done and the bishop would have to be in grave violation of canon law. I think he should've stepped in too. I don't really know what he could've done, though, as bishops can run their dioceses however they please. If you are interested in reading more about the crisis in the Catholic priesthood, I would recommend Goodbye, Good Men by Michael Rose; I, personally, have not read it, but the reviews are pretty good.
• 

  DocHayes

  Has anyone seen Weekend at Bernies?... Weekend at the Vatican?