There’s actually 4 in England alone which is unusual!

7 minutes ago, Steve201 said:

There’s actually 4 in England alone which is unusual!

And even more unusually, none are Irish, the only current Irish cardinal is too old, although there a few Irish-American candidates.

It was inevitable I guess after surviving 30 odd days in a dire situation given his age and previous health issues. A very impressive pope. The Catholic Church will never recover from the scandals and school abuse stuff but the best it can do is honour the traditions with good people instead of sketchy people and he was in that mould. I did see him about 6 years ago and got some souvenir holy water which I will now give away to any despondent catholics in the pub later in the spirit of goodwill

5 hours ago, danG said:

and just hours after meeting JD Vance :o

First spectacularly crashing the economy, now killing famous old people shortly after meeting them, the Trump administration is Truss 2.0.

As an atheist working in a Catholic school, I had been wondering what I should do if this news came through when I was in a classroom. If it had happened 24 hours later, I would have had that decision to make.

Francis has been a far more progressive Pop[-e than his predecessors, so I had a lot of respect for him. He made a number of important statements on the environment and was far more understanding of sexual minorities. I hope his successor continues in the same direction.

Inevitable right when the illness was reported at his age, but at least he got to see a final Easter Sunday. RIP, seemed a very progressive pope.

I would never have known about the selection process before watching Conclave, I'm intrigued to follow what I can of it now! (Not that I imagine it will be the same levels of drama x)

4 hours ago, Suedehead2 said:

As an atheist working in a Catholic school, I had been wondering what I should do if this news came through when I was in a classroom. If it had happened 24 hours later, I would have had that decision to make.

Francis has been a far more progressive Pop[-e than his predecessors, so I had a lot of respect for him. He made a number of important statements on the environment and was far more understanding of sexual minorities. I hope his successor continues in the same direction.

I went to a Catholic school, no one really mentions the pope lol so doubt anything would need to be said.

Rest in peace. Obviously I'm not a part of the Catholic tradition but I do respect that he's made steps in the right direction to humble himself and not to see the position for its 'benefits' but as an opportunity to speak out about the importance of caring for the poor and the marginalised, something that's at the heart of the Christian faith. Hopefully whoever is next continues in that direction.

28 minutes ago, Steve201 said:

I went to a Catholic school, no one really mentions the pope lol so doubt anything would need to be said.

Did you attend a Catholic school at a time a former Pope died? Going off your date of birth, probably when you were very young in primary school?

I expect it would be a big deal in Catholic schools. I briefly attended one and one of my teachers had a shrine to Mother Theresa after she passed so I imaging the passing of the Pope would be a big deal.

RIP to Pope Francis. I’m Catholic on paper but not practising but he always seemed very progressive and kind. He will be missed.

Yeh to be fair I’m struggling to think of a similar time when something like that happened. Did JP 2 not die in 2005? If so I woulda missed it as I left school in 2001, just things like this weren’t mentioned much, it all seemed quite secular but maybe that was my 15 yo self not realising things.

1 hour ago, T Boy said:

Did you attend a Catholic school at a time a former Pope died? Going off your date of birth, probably when you were very young in primary school?

I expect it would be a big deal in Catholic schools. I briefly attended one and one of my teachers had a shrine to Mother Theresa after she passed so I imaging the passing of the Pope would be a big deal.

RIP to Pope Francis. I’m Catholic on paper but not practising but he always seemed very progressive and kind. He will be missed.

I was 15 when John Paul II died, although it happened during a half-term Easter holiday, so by the time I’d come back the shock had passed, although my RE teacher (who used to be in the IRA, but that’s another story) was still really shook by it.

I started my current spell at my Catholic school in January 2022, shortly after former Pope Benedict had died. A student asked if there could be a minute's silence. For Pele.

As Francis was the current Pope rather than a retired one, I assume it will be marked a little more. After all, none of our students were alive the last time a sitting Pope died. Even some of the staff are too young to remember it.

I see people are taking selfies as they pass the popes casket. WTF is wrong with people these days. Creeps!

I was shocked to see how rich he himself actually was. £16 million!?!? It honestly gobsmacks me how double standards religion can be... it's easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven, yet the Vatican and the Catholic church is VASTLY wealthy, and it seems also the pope himself.

That being said I did respect this pope a lot more, he was quite progressive in his views with civil ceremonies and helping the poor.

How would he be worth 16 mill exactly? What does he do to get that money? I’m not buying it

On 28/04/2025 at 00:04, Spiceboy said:

I was shocked to see how rich he himself actually was. £16 million!?!? It honestly gobsmacks me how double standards religion can be... it's easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven, yet the Vatican and the Catholic church is VASTLY wealthy, and it seems also the pope himself.

That being said I did respect this pope a lot more, he was quite progressive in his views with civil ceremonies and helping the poor.

Honestly the stuff the Vatican has on display in its museum is nothing compared to what sits in the vaults under it. There is priceless artefacts and wealth hidden away from view. The Catholic Church may just be the richest institution on earth

3 hours ago, Silas said:

Honestly the stuff the Vatican has on display in its museum is nothing compared to what sits in the vaults under it. There is priceless artefacts and wealth hidden away from view. The Catholic Church may just be the richest institution on earth

I went to look around the Vatican (I took advantage of my free entry due to being deaf lol), and the stuff they have on display is shockingly vast. Did make me wonder what they weren't showing, and what they know that has been covered up.

omg part 2