Pope Francis Dies: I Come to Bury Him...

Pope Francis, the Bishop of Rome and spiritual leader of more than a billion Roman Catholics around the world, died on Monday.

He was 88 years old and in poor health for some time.

Pope Francis died shortly after meeting with US Vice President JD Vance, himself a covert to Roman Catholicism.

What effect that might have had on the Pope's health is anyone's guess.

But as soon as the Pope was dead, the Vatican's PR team immediately sprang into action to sing his praises.

As a lapsed Catholic who had been subjected to the rigors of a Catholic primary school education, I have long disregarded the importance of anything the Popes said or did.

It's quite apparent that most "devout" Roman Catholics do the same but haven't got the courage of their convictions to say so.

It is true that I have had the good fortune to meet a few good, interesting and intelligent Roman Catholic clergymen, as well as similar type clergymen of different faiths. My relations with them were pleasant and educational but never so exhilarating as to rekindle any personal interest to practice religion again.

I don't intend to expostulate with faithful believers of any religion. If it gives them some sort of comfort, then good for them.

And I will always stand up for the constitutional right (in America, at least) for the freedom of anyone to practice their religion.

That same right does NOT extend to trying to enforce their religious beliefs upon me. That wears my patience thin.

While I am usually sad when someone dies, even if it is someone I don't know very well, the death of the Pope has left me unmoved.

But the pronouncements of the Vatican's PR team have stirred a mild interest on my part, if only because I found Pope Francis to be one of the blandest Popes to have reigned in my lifetime.

For instance, the PR team spoke of Pope Francis's "simplicity," in that he refused to live in the luxurious Papal apartment in the Vatican, opting for a smaller, simpler suite of rooms.

Of course, they failed to mention that's where Pope Fracis's predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, was residing.

Pope Benedict XVI was a German with Nazi connections in his youth who voluntarily resigned the Papacy in 2013 owing to ill health and lived on in the Vatican until 2022, dying at the age of 95.

Next the Vatican's PR team stated that Pope Francis wanted a "simple" funeral and to be buried in a "simple" cassock.

The Vatican doesn't do "simple" well.

Laid out in his coffin in Saint Peter's (a barbaric funerary ritual I am not fond of), sightseers can see the simple white cassock peeping out from underneath a brilliant red chasuble and a gold mitre affixed to his head.

Yep, real simple.

In keeping with this "simplicity," it was also announced that Pope Francis wished to be buried in the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore and NOT in Saint Peter's, the first Pope in over 100 years not to be buried there!

Santa Maria Maggiore is a major Papal Basilica in Rome and plenty of noble and princely nobles are buried there, like members of the Borghese family AND Napoleon's sister, Princess Pauline Borghese, the "Imperial Venus."

In death, therefore, Pope Francis will be among the good company of aristocrats, not among the poor or lepers.

And, in keeping with Pope Francis's wish for a simple funeral, there WILL be a state funeral attended by global political leaders and heads of state or their representatives, to provide THEIR PR teams with plenty of material to make nice with their Roman Catholic constituents at home.

It will also provide those same global leaders the chance to meet informally to discuss important political, economic and military issues before and after the obsequies, if not during them.

It is extremely doubtful that they will be discussing how to "Christianize" their wild, wicked, bullying regimes.

It is already known that US President Trump will be attending, as well as the Prince of Wales, whose father just happens to be the Supreme Head of the Church of England, where the Pope was replaced nearly 500 years ago!

It has not been mentioned whether Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will attend.

You know, the man whom Pope Francis told to surrender to Russian aggression last year, which would prove (to him, anyway) that Zelenskyy was the better man!

As for Pope Francis's legacy?

Well, the Vatican PR team is hyping him as progressive and an innovator, while conservative Roman Catholics say that he went too far with his "reforms" and woke progressive liberal "Catholics" complain that he didn't go far enough.

You can't please everyone.

Pope Francis will be buried on Saturday and consigned to history.

Then the conclave to choose another Pope will begin. Two of the candidates are a Black African and Asian cardinal. Much mention in the media has been made of that.

Regardless of who is ultimately chosen, the Vatican PR team and the world news media will begin to hype the new Pope.

And the process of making them seem near god-like in their perfections will begin again.

For now, at least, the death of Pope Francis is providing the news media with something else to cover, besides wars, deadly terrorist attacks, bloodshed, trade wars and people who suffer from Trump Derangement Syndrome.