Been reading the reports about the late Pope and listening to internet radio programmes about him. He was a good Pope although not everything he said was agreeable with everybody. Catholics all over the world are mourning the death of John Paul II (or Giovanni Paolo II as he was know in Italy). We pray to the Holy Spirit to give us a new Pope who will lead the Church in these unstable times. The new pope will have to deal with things like Michael Jackson type priests who, you know, do things to choir boys. And the euthanasia issue. And the female bishops issue. Lots of didfficult pope things to do. Oh well...

You know, the da vinci code stuff about the Opus Dei and the secret conclaves? It sounds too cool to be true but the conclave will really take place. They will go in to the room and be locked inside until they decide on a new pope. And the opus dei is said to be pushing for a more traditional and conservative pope. The second in command guy at the vatican is a member of the opus dei. It's like real-life Da Vinci code without the fiction and melodrama but with all the coolness.

Wish I was in Rome now. I remember the Vatican when I visited it. Such an impressive place. And St Peter's Square is so huge and actually a circle rather than square. During the last days of the pope, the whole square was constantly filled with 50 to 70 thousand people at any one time, all praying for him. I would like to have seen that. And the night before he died, they gave out candles in little plastic cups to the people there and there was a sea of little flames in the square under the window of the pope's bedroom. I want to be in Vatican City. And even though I'm a sucky catholic, I feel sad that we've lost the pope and I'll pray for a good pope to be elected.