Spygirl

Thanks, Tiggy. The wire services are now reporting that the Pope's condition is deteriorating again, the Vatican is attempting to prepare the world for his passing.

SharonNRayMc

Tiggy22, I have found your posts most interesting. Our Pope's passing is indeed an event that touches the hearts of many. I personally would love to be in Rome during this historic time. Alas, I will not be. I do hope some Fodorite who have this first-hand experience will write a detailed trip report. I love details!

And to Spygirl... I also wondered why Fodor's was so heavy-handed with yesterday's post. It was only one person's disrespectful comments which should have been removed.

Sharon

michelleNYC

Tiggy -- Thank you so very much. That was very interesting and very informative. I appreciate you taking the time to put all that down.

Intrepid1

The latest health report implies that the Pope may have entered into renal failure (which would account for the reported "shallow breathing." If this is truly the case he may not even last the night.

Shane

For those interested, the movie "Shoes of the Fisherman", starring Anthony Quinn, gives you some of the feel of how the Cardinals go about choosing a pope.

TexasAggie

cnn.com is reporting Il Papa has died.

Spygirl

I'm monitoring Corriere della Sera's website: his "biological parameters are markedly compromised...preoccupation and anxiety in Rome and the world, from China, to Poland to the United States, where Pres. Bush and first lady Laura are in prayer...high mass in San Giovanni Laterano (St. John's Lateran-the oldest church in Rome, and the seat of the Pope) transmitted by CNN and al-Jazeera"

monicapileggi

According to a header on CNN Breaking News: "Reuters: Italian media reporting Pope John Paul II has died. CNN working to confirm."

God Bless Pope John Paul II.

Monica

TexasAggie

"God Bless Pope John Paul II"

Amen.

Shane

God bless the Pope.

Spygirl

Indeed, but I'm not seeing any confirmation on the Italian websites of his passing, nor on CNN or Reuthers.

TexasAggie

CNN had a "Breaking News" alert for several minutes, then they removed it.

Spygirl

It may mean that they heard something unofficially, and are waiting for any formal announcement to issue from the Vatican.

monicapileggi

The Vatican just denied his death ( listen to Washington DC's WTOP radio station). I think until we get the official notice, we should continue our prayers.

Monica

monicapileggi

Darn, too many typos - "I'm listening..." http://www.wtopnews.com

Spygirl

Yup. CNN just put a breaking news headline in that the Vatican is denying the Pope has died.

Tiggy22

Sharon, Spygirl & Michelle NYC, you're welcome. I'm glad to be of help. (Not bad for a non-Catholic gal, huh?) ;-)

I will be in Italy on the 17-27th - in time for Conclave I believe. I've had this trip planned for months and I will be glad to post about the experience of being able to see history firsthand.

This Pope is the only Pope that half the population of this world has known - and the outpouring of grief in the weeks to come will be enormous. I expect heavy crowds, but I think the atmosphere of humanity will be well worth it.

Spygirl

It should be an incredibly moving event, Tiggy, how fortunate for you -I only wish I were there, too!

Tiggy22

For those going to Rome in the next few days/week, a friend of mine who works in the Vatican e-mailed me earlier in the day and said that when the Pope passes away, the "viewing" may only be 2-3 days rather than the 4-5 days as has been held in the past. He said he highly doubted the Vatican Museums would be open on the days of the viewing (same for Scavi) but would then open back up after the funeral mass and then close up again a day or two prior to the beginning of conclave.

dsm22

I am sorry spygirl, I did ask that the individual who posted those horrible things about the Pope be removed. Not sure why they deleted the whole thing. Unless they figured the whole thing would just turn ugly.

I agree there was some helpful advice there that was very relevant. Some people just cannot behave appropriately.

Thank you all for posting again. I hope that every one can be civil. I am not sure why I got so mad about those posts. I can usually ignore things like that. It was just too over the line. I am sure that I was not the only one who felt this way.

Thanks again to everyone who contibuted to the useful and interesting dialogue about this topic.