My condolences to all Catholics at the loss of their Pope, His Holiness John Paul II. He was indeed a great man who was so much a part of our life-time and, in the history of the last quarter of a century. This is not just a loss to you but to us all. "May flights of angels see him to his rest."

it finaly ended!
sad day!!

his funeral will be outstanding!

it finaly ended!
sad day!!

his funeral will be outstanding!

My thoughts exactly, I never seen so many people wait for someone to kick the bucket! But truthfully the man looked like he was about to die, many months ago. Poor old fellow was suffering, may his spirit rest in piece.

Millions die each day around the world and no body give a flying :taped: The man was 84 years of age with Parkinsons desease. The pope may have done a lot of good in many peoples eyes, but he stood in the way of progress. When I heard, via the news, that the pope did not believe in using condoms under any circumstances, even to prevent Aids, I was convinced the man was off his rockers. In addition, he stood in the way of stem cell research and womens rights. I hope his impediments are mentioned when everyone is grovelling over this poor soul's legacy. A little harsh you may say of me, but not any more so than than the Pope! I am not sorry he is dead. Maybe now the world can make some real scientific progress.

Well Truthseeker, to understand the Pope's opinions, you have to first understand the reason for them.

The Catholicism belief is that sexual intercourse is a gift of love from God for married couples to enjoy and to produce offspring. Artificial forms of birth control are not supported as it prevents life from being created. Rather a form of control through rhythm is preferred. I have actually tried it and it works, and there are reference materials that can be sought to educate people on how to use the rhythm control method. You can actually tell the times when a woman's fertility level is low or high, and use that to your advantage. When couples are getting married, they are tested for HIV/AIDS and other diseases before they are wed. Therefore, if in the Pope's and Catholics' eyes, sex is only for married couples, and they are free from disease when they are married, there is no need for birth control to protect them from disease if they are faithful to each other, and the rhythm control method is practiced. Remember it is birth control not disease control that they are being used for in marriages, and this is what is not supported.

With stem cell research, a human embryo is used. Going back to the sanctity of life issues, this means that a human life is destroyed. Now I know some may say that it is done to save a life, however, think about it....for each person who is saved from research done with stem cells, one is lost...so what is actually gained? The idea is to save life...not trade life. Anyway that is another topic, but the whole idea is that a life is destroyed through stem cell research and the Catholic church and the Pope value life in all forms. Hence the Pope's stand against stem cell research.

Now the standing in the way of women's rights is one point I would like you to provide more evidence of....please clarify what you meant by that, and what he did to stand in the way of women's rights.

Women's reproductive rights Rizzo. These are my feelings on the subject. They are not up for debate. Some people will be saddened by the Pope's passing, I on the other hand, will not lose any sleep. The world is better off.

Oh you mean like abortion rights and stuff....I understand...but see you have to understand the pope is just a central figure for Catholics. It's the catholic belief that he personified and truthfully....the next pope will share the same beliefs...so it's just a cycle.

I understand what you are saying though....but it is only a part of the faith....women are allowed to have abortions all over the world...showing that though he was against it....everyone is allowed their own freedoms...he stood for that as well. But he held life in all forms in high regard.

I'm not instigationg an argument or anything, I just wanted to respond to offer some explainations.....I hope I gave some insight into it.

Millions die each day around the world and no body give a flying :taped: The man was 84 years of age with Parkinsons desease. The pope may have done a lot of good in many peoples eyes, but he stood in the way of progress. When I heard, via the news, that the pope did not believe in using condoms under any circumstances, even to prevent Aids, I was convinced the man was off his rockers. In addition, he stood in the way of stem cell research and womens rights. I hope his impediments are mentioned when everyone is grovelling over this poor soul's legacy. A little harsh you may say of me, but not any more so than than the Pope! I am not sorry he is dead. Maybe now the world can make some real scientific progress.


I agree with you , it's times like these when you need to hear the truth, some call it tact, but whatever the case, sh*t is real, the truth is no lie!
I didnt know that bit about his beef with condoms, well it was easy for him to say, he was supposed to be practicing abstinence all his life. Nevertheless,may his spirit rest in peace.

Women's reproductive rights Rizzo. These are my feelings on the subject. They are not up for debate. Some people will be saddened by the Pope's passing, I on the other hand, will not lose any sleep. The world is better off.


Im not losing any sleep either and I hope its back to regularly scheduled programs, I better see Lou Dobbs tommorrow :hot: 40,000 children die everyday because they dont have food to eat, you hear noone crying about that. :what:

I am not Catholic, and I cannot sit here and say that Pope John Paul II, in any way touched me, but he obviously did touch the lives of others. For that I want to express my condolensces to Catholics and others whom's lives he may have touched in a profound way. I am glad to see his suffereing cometo an end. It must have taken alot of dignity, mental and physical strengh to present yourself to the world in such a wretched state, for so many years.

Just a few facts on the pope:

1.He was the first non-Italian Pope in about 450 years of the papacy.

2.He was born in Poland.

3.He was an actor, and an athlete (he played football aka Soccer).

4.He helped Jews during the Nazi invasion of Poland.

My interest now lies in who will be his replacement. Candidates have been mentioned from all parts of the globe, including South Africa, Latin America, and of course Europe. I think it is a safe bet that the next pope will not be an American.