Yeah, I'm Out! Peace! See Ya, In 7th Heaven!

The Pontiff
Originally uploaded by Ramses 3rd.

The most recent Pontiff has bid us all farewell and ado... in my earlier days, I would have said "good ridance!" Now, I have to sit back with my arms crossed and contemplate -- what's next and does the world care?

Europe is no longer the craddle of Catholicism, and the USA never embraced the stringent form of Christianity -- but in the Third World!?!?! Shit, that's were ALL the Catholics are kicking it now. Central & South America and Africa are chock full of Papists. So my questions, does the world care has multiple contexts.

There has been some speculation for the past couple of years that when Pope John Paul II did shrug of his mortal coil that the next pope would be selected from the Third World... most likely South America (as the World would NEVER stand for an African pope -- even those whites who aren't Catholic would vomit, and the "presitge" of Catholicism would be shit on and rubbed in the dirt -- at least in their minds.

In this fascinating book I just started reading called Guns, Germs and Steel, the author proffers the fact that Catholicism has ravaged what is now the 3rd World ever since it was introduced there. So it wouldn't be that bad if the Church was controlled by the descendants of the heathens it strove so hard to eridacate, then convert (in that order!!!).

What's is trully going to be interesting is all the media scrutiny the selection of the next Pontiff is going to bring. I heard on NPR that The Vacitican was going to sweep all the debate chambers for bugs and other kind of surveillance devices. We also get to see a lot of the inner workings of the oldest organization on the Earth. Just look at the ceremony/ritual going on now -- there is going to a Nine-Day mourning period. And then some portion of the that, the body of John Paul II is going to be on display for all sorts of daws to peck at. Then the heady speculation on who is the new Pontiff going to be...

The next few months will have an interesting impact on the globe... so, you can see why I'm sitting back with my arms crossed, observing.