why IS the pope here, anyway?

[dania]

What's he, blessing potholes or some jazz?  They're wasting my tax dollars throwing him a birthday party.  Total kids' stuff for an 81 year old.  I'm angry. 

[Jason]

This story is totally eclipsing the one about Martha Stewart's dog dying.

[emma]

All I can say is you'd better hope the pope gatherings are held far, far away from your house/place of business.

It didn't go so well for this one guy back in 2002.

[Oogie]

What's he, blessing potholes or some jazz?  They're wasting my tax dollars throwing him a birthday party.  Total kids' stuff for an 81 year old.  I'm angry. 

I'm pretty sure he's here on a special mission to annoy you.

[chrisfoll577]

he's primarily here to address the general assembly of the united nations.  the pope is also a head of state, so he's also making an official state visit to the white house.  the primary function of the pope is spiritual leader to one of the world's largest religions, so visiting one of the world's most populous catholic nations is also an important pastoral trip.  it may seem trivial to those looking in from the outside, but it is a pretty big deal to those of us who are practicing catholics.  this sort of thing only happens once every ten years or so, so indulge us for just a little bit.

[Julie Klausner]

I think he's mostly just popin' around.

[PatrickChew]

he's primarily here to address the general assembly of the united nations.

And, y'know, apologize for all the kid-touching. Although it is good that he's actually acknowledging that this shit really did happen to a lot of people.

[todd]

he's primarily here to address the general assembly of the united nations.  the pope is also a head of state, so he's also making an official state visit to the white house.  the primary function of the pope is spiritual leader to one of the world's largest religions, so visiting one of the world's most populous catholic nations is also an important pastoral trip.  it may seem trivial to those looking in from the outside, but it is a pretty big deal to those of us who are practicing catholics.  this sort of thing only happens once every ten years or so, so indulge us for just a little bit.

"Important" in what way? He's gonna come, shake some hands, say some prayers, and leave. The whole thing is a big media circus over something pretty trivial.

[erika]

Eh it may be trivial to some of us (or you), but to thousands of people it isn't... He's like any leader who has followers in different countries. They go on visits every now and then. PR, baby.

[yesno]

any trip by some big important guy is "trivial" and symbolic. Do you think Reagan and Gorbachev were hammering out the details of the salt treaty themselves? All the real work of politicians is done by their staff.

[chrisfoll577]

he's primarily here to address the general assembly of the united nations.  the pope is also a head of state, so he's also making an official state visit to the white house.  the primary function of the pope is spiritual leader to one of the world's largest religions, so visiting one of the world's most populous catholic nations is also an important pastoral trip.  it may seem trivial to those looking in from the outside, but it is a pretty big deal to those of us who are practicing catholics.  this sort of thing only happens once every ten years or so, so indulge us for just a little bit.

"Important" in what way? He's gonna come, shake some hands, say some prayers, and leave. The whole thing is a big media circus over something pretty trivial.

i think erika put it well... it is PR. lots of important people do little visits to far away places to remind people they're there and still care about them.  and there's nothing trivial about it.  a big chunk of the news you see every night is a result of staged events.  even if people think it's stupid, narrow minded, medieval or whatever, he's the head of my and millions of other people's church, and what he says regarding god, the environment, the war in iraq, social justice and yes 'saying sorry for the kid touching' (something that still pisses me off) means a lot to us.  

[Handsome Homeless]

Is he holding mass at Yankee Stadium or just visiting?

[todd]

Yea, but Reagan and Gorbachev were heads of state. Sure, the Pope is TECHNICALLY a head of state, but is he really negotiating tariff prices or talking about the Vatican's oil exports? No, he's coming as a representative of the church, not President of the world's smallest city-state.

I just think "the pope's visit" is one of those evergreen news stories that don't mean anything except that people get excited whenever it happens. And most of those people are excited because they remember the LAST media circus where there was tons of news coverage. It's a self-fulfilling news story.

[senorcorazon]

To announce the launch of the Death Star.


Stupid Nazi pope. "Whoops, sorry about all that pedophilia for the past 40 years or so. No, we still won't allow anyone with a vagina to hand out the crackers because Jesus hated women." I love this quote from John Paul II: "I declare that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church’s faithful". Apparently, the Church isn't allowed to make a decision.

[John Junk 2.0]

he's primarily here to address the general assembly of the united nations.  the pope is also a head of state, so he's also making an official state visit to the white house.  the primary function of the pope is spiritual leader to one of the world's largest religions, so visiting one of the world's most populous catholic nations is also an important pastoral trip.  it may seem trivial to those looking in from the outside, but it is a pretty big deal to those of us who are practicing catholics.  this sort of thing only happens once every ten years or so, so indulge us for just a little bit.

"Important" in what way? He's gonna come, shake some hands, say some prayers, and leave. The whole thing is a big media circus over something pretty trivial.

You've just offended me.  I'm going to explode myself really close to your house or car, so you might get hurt too.

My dad is Mr. Lapsed Catholic.  He did not miss the fact that the Supreme Court upheld stiff death penalty standards and then went from there to share cocktails with the pope, one of the world's most prominent anti-capital-punishment dudes.