Pope Francis has died

"Before Francis took ill in February, he criticized President Donald Trump’s mass deportation policy. 'What is built on the basis of force,' Francis warned in a letter to American bishops, 'and not on the truth about the equal dignity of every human being, begins badly and will end badly.'"
-New York Times

I fucking hate you Vance, this is your fault!
- Political extremists aren't always the best at differentiating between correlation and causation. Let's see how this plays out.
  
  Conspiracy theorists are already making new theories about Vance killing the Pope for refusing to "Play ball" with the Trump Agenda

Guys. Joe Biden is Catholic. The Vatican has an opportunity to do the funniest thing ever.
- They are really unlikely to support a non cleric. All the decision makers sacrificed a lot of typical life time activities to be clerics, they aren't going to lift up sometime who hasn't also made these sacrifices.
  
  I didn't say they would. I said they could. Jokes aside, I would be VERY surprised if old Joe got picked for this, both for the reasons you mentioned and because of the decline he's been going through recently.
- Pope Brandon I
- It's a funny thought, but he's not a cardinal or even a priest. Not just any Catholic can be Pope.
  Edit: turns out, yes, any Catholic can theoretically be pope
  
  Uhm, pretty sure being a baptized Catholic is pretty much the only requirement...
  From Wikipedia:
  The pope does not need to be a cardinal elector or indeed a cardinal; since the pope is the bishop of Rome, only those who can be ordained a bishop can be elected, which means that any male baptized Catholic is eligible.
  
  actually in theory yes any catholic can be pope.
  in practice, however…
  
  Actually officially any male catholic can be pope, it's just in practice cardinals always choose one of their own
  
  Psh, details, shmetails.
  
  He is probably younger than most of the other candidates.
  
  They once made a monk Pope I know, I'm not sure if he was also a priest. Certainly wasn't a cardinal though I think that was one of the arguments in favor of him.
- Oh shit.
- Pope Fabian Ⅱ

Well, that's hardly a good excuse for pawning JD Vance off on some flunky. Seriously, popes these days...

Bring him back, take Trump instead

- I actually saw a headline yesterday about how the Pope “ghosted” JV Dunce. 😫👻
- JD Vance: "How long have you worked here?"
  
  "Have you said Thanks, even once?"
  
  Is Francis really your name? What's on your birth certificate?
- His last words: "Dear Father in heaven, that unsufferable man!"

- https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberation_theology
  
  It was quite big in Latin America and perhaps the Philippines. The biggest left wing groups and anti-dictatorship movements in the 20th century was influenced by the Catholic church. I am no longer religious, but I would not be the person I am today had I not been brought up in a Catholic environment.

Pope is recovering;
meets JD Vance
dies a couple days later....
Hmm
- Many people are asking "Did JD Vance have a hand in the Pope's death?"
  
  Did JD Vance murder the Pope? It could be. Hey, I'm just asking questions here...
- Would YOU want to keep on living if you had to speak to JD Vance?
- He died the very next day.
  
  Hours later, even.
  
  Isn't it ironic? Don't ya think?
- Isn't it
  JD Vance asks to meet Pope
  Pope slights Vance, refuses to meet
  Pope dies the next day ???
  Very sus
  
  Well they did meet actually.
  
  JD Vance is the impostor.

I am surpringly annoyed about Americans somehow finding a way to make this about themselves.
In reality I'm much more worried about the likely counterreformist pushback that is likely about to happen. We're about to find out if a remarkably powerful organization's leader was able to seed enough support to secure a politically aligned successor, and if the answer is "no" a bunch of organizations are about to get even more ruthlessly conservative at a time when a new strain of fascism is seeking moral support. The Catholic Church has been here before. It didn't go well.
- "Francis appointed nearly 80% of the cardinal electors who will choose the next pope, increasing the possibility that his successor will continue his progressive policies, despite the strong pushback from traditionalists."
  https://www.reuters.com/world/pope-francis-has-died-vatican-says-video-statement-2025-04-21/
  
  The catch is that he did not appoint by ideology. His appointments were mainly based on the guys doing work for poor people, for migrants, and on them doing their jobs in the global south.
  Quite a few of these he made cardinals are somewhat conservative in their views, especially regarding sexuality
- Yeah. It's more than annoying, especially as it's the same old Vance joke again and again and again. Which isn't even clever.
  I am not a Christian by any means but I worked with them quite often. Francis did change a lot of things and while he wasn't in no way perfect - he did have his drawbacks, for a fucking pope he was much better than anyone before him within the last few hundred years. People (especially on the internet)nowadays expect other people, especially political leaders to "check all their boxes" and if one thing is not going as far as they want, they are alienated.
  Often I have the impression that as long as someone is not going "all the way" in the right direction they are seen as bad as someone who does not do anything at all or goes in the wrong direction. (Which is ironic because the church itself has evolved past the "saint or sinner" directive)
  Francis has been going in the right direction probably 60% of the way and 10% in the wrong direction. Is the Catholic church there yet? No. Is there a big chance it might turn back? Yes. Would he been elected if he was so reformist it was sure he would topple everything and go 100%? Surely not.
  But he did much more than any of his predecessors did.
  Any much more most commenters do.
  Besides: It's okay to feel sorry for an old man dying. That's called fucking compassion. I work in healthcare and have seen a lot of people die. I feel sorry for almost all of them.
  In the end a human has died. Period.
  
  I'm entitled to not feel sorry for the unelected ruling class dying. Whether it's the queen, or it's the pope.
  Both brought more misery than did good. The existance of them both were a net negative to the world.
  Fuck the church.
  
  much better than anyone before him within the last few hundred years
  John XXIII was pretty progressive, wouldn't you think?
  
  I don't feel that sorry when an old person dies, they've lived their life, and dying is a natural part of the cycle. I do feel bad for those they left behind, who will miss them dearly.
  I feel worst for young people who die before their time, and never got to experience the life they planned for, that's a true tragedy.
  
  Great post. Holding the leash on the next Pope would be a huge strategic coup for the MAGA Nazis, and too much of a temptation to resist. There are no coincidences in politics, and dropping dead immediately after Couchfucker's visit is to close to not be suspicious.
  I expect a full court press by the MAGA Nazis to have their hand-picked creep as the next Pope, and they will make all sorts of threats to accomplish it. In the end, if the Vatican chooses someone other than the MAGA Nazi candidate, Catholics will suddenly become one more persecuted political democraphic in America.
  
  The joke about Vance killing him? I don't think people mean it as a joke. That's how the mob-like tactics work. It's a very real consideration. Organized crime is intertwined deeply in American government and geopolitics.
  Shit even the Vatican was wrapped up in mafia stuff in the past and probably still is.
  Sorry but I used AI for this;
  "The Vatican has been associated with mafia connections, particularly during the papacies of Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul II. These connections have been linked to financial scandals and criminal activities involving figures like Michele Sindona and Roberto Calvi. Sindona, a reputed international mafia chieftain, was appointed as the Vatican banker by Pope Paul VI, leading to significant financial disasters and frauds. Calvi, the head of Banco Ambrosiano, was also deeply involved in money laundering and had ties to the mafia and the Vatican Bank under the leadership of Archbishop Paul Marcinkus. Marcinkus faced criticism from Pope John Paul II's inner circle but was protected by the Pope, highlighting the complex relationships within the Vatican during this period.
  In recent years, efforts have been made to address these issues. The Vatican created a working group in honor of Rosario Livatino, a Catholic judge killed by the mafia, to study the expulsion of criminal organizations from the Catholic Church. These initiatives reflect ongoing efforts to separate the Church from criminal influences and to promote integrity within its financial and organizational structures.
  The Vatican's financial dealings have long been a source of scandal and embarrassment, contributing to a "black legend" that mars the Church's image. Pope Francis has been particularly active in reforming Vatican finances, centralizing control over Vatican assets to reduce the risk of corruption and illegal activities.
  Despite these efforts, concerns about mafia influence persist, with investigations and arrests involving mafia members and their alleged cooperation with the Vatican Bank."
  And trump....
  "Donald Trump has been linked to organized crime figures throughout his career. He has been accused of doing business with and receiving favors from the Mafia during his early years as a developer in New York City. For instance, Trump used concrete supplied by companies controlled by the Mafia to build his properties, including Trump Tower, at a time when the concrete industry was under Mafia control.
  Trump's lawyer, Roy Cohn, had ties to several Mafia bosses, and Cohn introduced Trump to some of these figures. Trump also had business dealings with individuals who had connections to organized crime, such as John Staluppi, a "made" member of the Colombo crime family, and Kenneth Shapiro, who worked for Philadelphia mobster Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo.
  In 2013, Trump admitted on David Letterman's show that he had encountered "characters" associated with organized crime during his time in New York, but claimed he tried to stay away from them.
  These allegations have been detailed in various books and articles, including Wayne Barrett's biography "Trump: The Deals and the Downfall" and a book titled "'MAFIA' Don: Donald Trump's 40 years of Mob ties" by H.B. Glushakow."
  Organized crime is a key player in national and geopolitics. It never went away, they got better at it. And corrupted officials got better at hiding them. America is probably currently dominated by organized crime right now.
  There are four main rulers of humanity, nations/politicians, organized religions, 1% wealth business, and organized crime. They all mingle and all manipulate the poor and vulnerable to gather followers, soldiers, and sycophants in order to maintain control. It's very real war happening.
- As a non-Catholic American, I have the same worry for the global geopolitics. It just so happens that the united states is part of those geopolitics.
- I don't expect a conservative backlash, on the contrary Francis's Pontificate has weakened the conservative wing considerably. Given that 80% of the voting cardinals were appointed by Pope Francis, I would expect them to elect a successor that continues in the same direction, perhaps even a more radical one.
  During his pontificate Francis also made a lot of efforts to bring in new groups into the corridors of power. Not only by his appointment of cardinals, but also e.g. by reforming the Curia with Praedicate evangelium.
  
  Compared to the iron grip the reactionaries held before my understanding is you're right. That doesn't mean that wing is going to get away with a continuist choice. I mean, it's more likely than it used to be, but I'm not making a call until the Habemus Papam.
- I am surpringly annoyed about Americans somehow finding a way to make this about themselves
  Me too, bud. Me. Too. Alas, there is no escaping them for me. I do wish more Americans could travel abroad and see the world beyond our borders. I would wager fewer than 20% of Americans have been 50 miles from our borders and it can lead to a pretty insular world view.
- It sure feels like the tides are turning conservative everywhere, but apparently a Filipino progressive is a favorite to be next
  
  We'll see where it goes. They aren't exactly transparent about these things, and they've been arguing among themselves for a while. We'll know with the white smoke, I suppose.
  
  There is a roman saying, "the one who enters conclave as the pope [to be] leaves it as a mere cardinal"
  
  I think in terms of the church the term "conservative" does not necessarily align with the political understanding. The largest shift in the church is demographic. White Europeans are loosing power rapidly in the catholic church. Subsequently the catholic church will align less and less with "Western" conservatives, and their imperialist understanding of geopolitics.
  I expect to see much more opposition of "christian conservative" politicians in Europe towards the catholic church.
  Ironically just yesterday the president of the German federal parliament of the "christian conservative" CDU told the Churches to shut up about politics.
  
  I'm waiting for someone to suggest that a it's time for the first woman pope.
- Should we make it about a religion that's known for pedophile priests and them being protected? Or about how religion is a long con scam of power and wealth that has been the leading cause of war and persecution for centuries upon centuries?
  Granted, by all appearances, I believe he seemed to be a pretty good guy. Hopefully the next pope will be as good. Take what you can while religions still exist, I suppose.
  
  Yes.
  Yes, you should.
  Because as much as you see it as a domestic throwaway denomination among many, they are extremely and increasingly overrepresented in developing countries (and a couple of European ones as well).
  So if you want to know which way the use of contraceptives, the position on gay people or the express support for neofascism is going to go in Africa this is relevant.
  It is not about the US or their opinions. And I say this as an atheist.
- I am surpringly annoyed about Americans somehow finding a way to make this about themselves
  And turning it into politics, because there is no otger way to talk about things
  Sure, discussing politics is important to some degree, but it isn't the most important thing in our lifes
  One of the most important persons in the world (atleast for catholics) has died. We shouldn't laugh about it. We shouldn't politicize it. We shouldn't take it to any other context.
  I'm surprised and sad at the same time. Even tho i like edgy memes and memes about Pope John Paul II (he is a legend in Poland and polish community do meme about him but in a very respectful way), i really find it bad to do so about Pope Francis right now - so i dislike any post like this
  
  It is literally a political position. There's about to be an election to choose the next guy.
  I agree that it is serious in that it's going to have an impact on people's lives, far beyond the relatively small direct power they have. That concerns me.
  To be clear, I have zero respect for the institution, but I care about how they wield the influence they have, and I'd much rather have a relatively progressive guy like Francis than a relative reactionary like John Paul II, with all due respect to Polish pride. I'm assuming we can at least agree on taking him over Benedictus.
  
  The church is political. The church should be political. Francis pushed for the church to take more of a stance and it rubbed "christian conservatives" the wrong way, because their political goals are a mockery of the values Jesus preached.
- It's just a religion, we strip it of any power if they misbehave.
  
  I am very curious to know who "we" is in this context.
  
  Cultism is such a potent tendency of the human animal that new cults form spontaneously in the absence of established mythologies (or despite them). Fascism is a cult phenomenon, for instance, and the people vulnerable to such belief systems are unerringly broken in the same way that religious people are broken. It’s like someone scooped out the part of their brains responsible for maintaining epistemic norms and replaced it with oatmeal.
  
  You should know that lots of countries and societies will not do this. Especially in the global south.
  
  Unfortunately that's not the way it works.

Gfdi. I'm not religious, but knowing that Catholics are going to choose a new Pope, I can only look forward to more bad news of comformity to godawful world news in the form of a shitty New Pope who inspires and empowers all the shitty people.
Great, one more thing to make the world even worse.
- My sincere hope is that the Catholic Church looks at how they were perceived under Benedict—a staunchly conservative Pope that led to massive losses in respect, attendance, and relevance; and how they were perceived under Francis—an actually compassionate and humble servant of the Church and its people. And based on that, they choose another Pope who's in the same vein as Francis to continue bringing the Church into this century. There is still decades of work to be done, but we absolutely can't go backwards right now.
  
  Frances said some good stuff but did he do anything meaningful to bring the church into this century
  
  Or, on the theory that we're living in the stupidest timeline, they'll go with "Pope Biden I."
  
  Lol.
- There's some hope.... part of Francis' papacy involved him promoting more open-minded cardinals (who are the ones who choose popes) but we'll see
  
  We can hope.
  But also: "papacy"? Sounds like a dynamic I need in my life (:
- This just in: the Catholic Church chooses Andrew Tate as their new pope
- Im waiting for all the articles whe we he said something nice about gay people, so hes super progressive and we should be nice to the church cause they like us
  Only to go to the comments where someone points out the next sentence he said was we are still going to hell
  
  They're the ones that invented hell in the first place. That's being the gatekeeper of your own imaginative fuck-you land, you can do whatever you want since it doesn't even exist in the first place.
  Oh hey if you beat your children and don't support people that support trans people you're going to urusjsttisstiidtiyd after you die and it sucks and people punch you in the face and it smells like shit and jd vance sticks his fingers in your mouth randomly and it's all the worst stuff you can imagine and it curses your family forever and if you do support trans people with everything and don't worry i can read your thoughts i mean the super powerful all powerful everywhere all the time in everything force person called odyysiid5tditkxhck can read your thoughts and knows if you're being bad or even considering it or thinking about anything bad.
  ^ religion, my new one that you should follow, also you go to the good place where all your dreams come true and you can be with all your loved ones forever and there's all the things you want trust me bro you want this and not the bad forever ending. It's called RaulingSucksDurt-ism and it's real and all the other religions aren't real and they're all actually going to urusjsttisstiidtiyd for not even believing. The best thing you can do actually is to show them the light and save them from urusjsttisstiidtiyd because that's bad and you want to be good right? The other religions just lie to you and it's actually the leader of urusjsttisstiidtiyd whispering in their ear and they're all victims bro, help them bro before it's too late, they're all bad bro help them with your love
- I think with the current zeitgeist we're in for a Battle Pope this time.
  
  Battle Pope! With flying "Rocket Papal Punch" action! Only $12.25 at your nearest Vatican.

Looks like it's time for another pope race. I would like to throw my hat in the ring. As a lapsed Catholic trans woman who's never so much as visited a seminary, I know I'm an unorthodox choice. But maybe it's time to mix things up. My central campaign planks? We're going to bring back indulgences and try to make the Papal States a thing again. Also, expect skits and improv sessions to have a big place in Catholic mass in the future!
- I know I'm an unorthodox choice.
  There's a joke somewhere in here
  
  My partner added "as someone who can't even say the word 'seminary" without giggling..."
- Your candidacy would put the Church in quite a predicament, for sure. They could either embrace a trans woman as a leader (confirming that there's nothing wrong with trans people) or reject her for being a woman (therefore admitting that one can, in fact, change their gender).
  Of course, this is a false dichotomy, but a good PR team could spin it as a human rights win either way.
- "As a lapsed Catholic trans woman who's never so much as visited a seminary, I know I'm an unorthodox choice."
  As someone in the same position good luck
  
  As new Pope, I promise to repeat the Cadaver Synod. I promise to dig up the corpse of Pope Benedict XVI and put him on trial for his homophobia and transphobia! And I may not stop at him...I may have to set up a whole special court just for putting former popes on trial.
- Only guys can be Pope.
  
  But according to TERFs and fash, she is a guy though
  
  This, in the Catholic Church, transwomen actually do count as women. Recent ruling, they're against "Gender Ideology", whatever the fuck that means, but make exceptions for transpeople due to Francis ruling gender dysphoria a geniune medical issue that is exempt from rules against whatever "Gender Ideology" is
  
  Eh. Rules are arbitrary and can be changed.
  
  Hey, hey, hey... there's always Pope Joan. ;)
  https://www.britannica.com/topic/Pope-Joan
  
  Without going into spoilery details, the film Conclave raised a very interesting question about pope eligibility. Recommend checking it out, not just for the topical relevance but also simply because it's a good movie.
  
  You’d have to call uno reverse trans
  
  Pretty sure the church doesn't recognize trans people

Any signs of plutonium poisoning?
- He was the raddest pope ever. They say his coffin practically glows

The child in me kind of wishes he had passed on 4/20 Easter, but alas.
That being said, while I'm not religious I appreciate a lot (not all) of what this Pope has done. His Apostolic Exhortation on the Idolatry of Money, and the gross inequality wrought by capitalism is worth a read.
- For the time he had, the distance he brought the Church is pretty impressive. I will go to my grave believing that organized religion does more harm than good, nothing they ever do will change my mind. That said, he really was an agent for positive change, especially compared to Darth Benedict, who preceded him.
- Some gold from that document:
  In this context, some people continue to defend trickle-down theories which assume that economic growth, encouraged by a free market, will inevitably succeed in bringing about greater justice and inclusiveness in the world. This opinion, which has never been confirmed by the facts, expresses a crude and naïve trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power and in the sacralized workings of the prevailing economic system.
  Would be funny to make a quote collection titled "Who said this? Pope Francis or a socialist?"
- Not to mention his stance against zio terrorism. That's probably why he's being replaced.
  
  He's being replaced because he dead yo.
  Good pope tho.
  
  I like the implication that they interrogated a dead body about its opinion on terrorism lmao

Yeah, meeting JD Vance can be too much for anyone.
- We should spread the news that Vance killed him!
  
  vance liz truss'd the pope
- Honestly, it's not even hat far fetched. He probably denied visits because he was in bad health, yet Americans probably pushed to meet anyway
  
  I believe the pope met with the UK PM and one other dignitary the previous day, so he wasn't denying all visits.
  Edit: ... and he did meet with Vance the next day.
- I would imagine they have some beautiful, world class couches in the Vatican. I can only imagine what the Pope walked in on!

RIP Pope Francis. Glad you put Just Dumb in his place.

He was like man this guy sucks, I don't want to live in a world where this guy has power, then dies. I feel the same dude...

Do other religions go to such great lengths to cover this kind of news? Like would we see the same for the Dalai Lama?
- According to wikipedia, there is rougly 2.5 Billions of Christians with half of them being catholic, moreover the Catholic church is a relatively centralised religion giving a lot of power to the Pope compared to other religious leaders. So I can't think about many religious leader having that much global authority.
  I Wouldn't be surprised that the death of Ayattolah Khamanei will also quite a big news. However, while pretending to be "a religious leader" he is also the de facto political leader of Iran
- What's your point here? The Dalai Lama's influence is basically nonexistent when compared to the Pope.
- It should be a big deal when he does since he’ll be the last one because China kidnapped the successor
  
  China disappeared the Panchen Lama, the second-most important religious figure in Tibetan Buddhism, and replaced him with a China-selected puppet.
  But the Panchen Lama is not the successor to the Dalai Lama. The whole point is that the Dalai Lama will be reincarnated when he dies, so his successor isn't born yet.
  The Dalai Lama recently proclaimed that his successor will be born in the free nations outside China - allowing him to be born, say, among the substantial Tibetan refugee populations in Nepal or India.
  However, it's a near-certainty that China will select its own successor from a family loyal to the CCP, and from within China-controlled Tibet, while Tibetans outside the country will likely recognize another.
- Yes. Even for non-Catholics it's notable because the Pope has so much influence in Christendom.
- Presumably Catholics outnumber Tibetan Buddhists.
- I suppose it depends on where you live ......

"That was because he refused to welcome god-king JD vance in person!!!! God punished the pope for his impertinence!!!!"
Some MAGA-Nut somewhere, probably
- Some MAGA-Nut somewhere, probably
  probably closer to all of 'em

Okay, we need to know where every US government official was.
Right after the Pope told trump to have some compassion, a very coincidental timing...
🤔

It's a true shame. Francis was the most "eco-socialist" pope we are going to get. Managing to offend entrenched conservatives deserves respect.
- Yeah, he ALMOST restored the office of Pope to relevancy :D
  When his draconian successor inevitably comes along, we can go back to ignoring the papacy again.
- As others have said, Francis also stacked the electors who will be deciding the next pope, so it is possible that his successor will also be just as progressive (well, progressive for the leader of a conservative religious institution, at least).
- The most PR pope, never meant anything he said, all gaslighting and hollow platitudes, no actual change, still shuffled around and defended pedos
  
  Ah yes, the expected purity test. Let's just ignore any progress made and make snark remarks online while we wait for the 100% ideologically pure.

I'm actually sad about this one. He was by far the best pope of my lifetime.
- Low bar.
  
  True but he exceeded the existing bar by a lot.
  
  Yes, but if the next one is a little better, and the next one, and the next one...
  The church evolves very slowly.
  
  Speed bump.
- I feel depressed watching someones last days no matter who they are. R.i.p. I think it was brave of him to be in public for so long.
- He had the dopest pope rock album too, I imagine that record will stand
- 52
- This comment proves the church’s PR experiment worked. The lies worked. He wasn’t progressive, he was a hard conservative, homophonic, misogynist who defended pedos and spewed hollow platitudes while sitting on a trillion dollars. But the church put him in place and threw a huge propaganda machine behind him and you bought it
  Edit: to the pedo lovers in this thread who are gonna miss king pedo
  https://youtu.be/DUlj48Rvp1c
  
  homophonic
  I think he was the first Pope Francis. But even if he were the second, that wouldn’t make him a homophone.
  I guess all popes are homophonic in some languages, like in Spanish “la papa” is potato and “el papa” is pope.
  
  Did you even see the earlier Popes? He did everything you say and yet this guy was liberal by every definition compared to the guy he replaced. Benedict was nasty and he knew it.
  
  This comment proves the church’s PR experiment worked.
  Conspiracy theorists are so weird... Like do you imagine a smokey room with the pope and a group of cardinals talking about how they want to represent the church in a completely opposite way to how they want it to be? Or is there a "shadow church" that controls it all and the pope is unaware?
  Which marvel movie best reflects the situation do you think?
- He was the best child rapist out of the lot of them 😢
  I hope his religion is real so he can burn in hell with his predecessors.
- Spokesperson of the biggest pedophile ring dies, and that makes me sad.
- Don't be sad, he was as just bad as any of his colleagues.
  https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/11/world/europe/pope-francis-homophobic-slur.html
  
  I have terrible news for you if you think using a homophobic slur is as bad as anything the previous popes and cardinals have been doing.
  
  Francis was known as a liberal reformer, making headlines across the globe by permitting the blessing of same-sex couples and promoting global action on climate change.
  Francis worked as a janitor and a chemical technician in the food-processing industry before entering the seminary.
  He was outspoken about clergy abuse and called on the Catholic Church to "act decisively" against paedophile priests just months after his 2013 appointment.
  
  This was tbe same man that said being homosexual isn't a crime and doesn't merit persecution for it, albeit by the catholic creed being a sin.
  An insult is only as long someone allows it to be.
  Downvote away.
  
  Of course the worst pro-russia troll would also troll against catholicism, why am I surprised

Boy asks Pope if his atheist father is in heaven.
Humility, patience, kindness, grace, and rationality. Would that we should have more leaders like him in the future.
- Thank you for sharing this I’m as atheist as can be and I don’t really have a good view of the Catholic Church (or most churches) in general for obvious reasons but this pope was indeed better than the ones before him and that was a good moment from him

JD Vance visits the Vatican, the pope literally dies
I guess he didn't say "thank you"
- Like Liz Truss to the queen.

This is huge, pinning it for now.
- One would even suggest this is world news.
  
  Definitely. This potentially changes the structure of the Church which impacts every country in which it operates.
  1.3 billion followers in 160+ countries.

This is sad. He was indeed a great pope. But, WTF did JD do?
- Probably, he finished him...
  
  AI slop
- Wait, so the vaccine hating vp bowman visits the Vatican and the next day the pneumonia suffering Pope dies. Coincidence...?
  
  It would be more than coincidence if the next Pope was an ultra-conservative, GOP-friendly guy from the US and A. Of course this would never happen, but.... ehm... who knows?
  
  He’s been sick for a while.
- Ask Pete

let's wait a couple days and see if he comes back
- You literally missed the right number by one.
  
  I don't think they did. In the bible, Jesus died Friday afternoon and rose Sunday morning. That's pretty close to two days- just over a day and a half, depending on when God yoinked his son's spirit.
  The tradition took place over three days, but we'll know if he's a'risin' by the day and a half mark.

He was an alright Pope in the end. Not a soulless bastard like Benedict.
- He even opted out of the traditional, expensive papal funeral and requested to just be laid in state and then buried in a wooden coffin lined with zinc.
  
  I can't not read this as "expensive paypal funeral".
  
  Why zinc?
- Well, now it's time to swing to an even Nazier Nazi.
  
  You joke but there is a genuine possibility that the Vatican might elect someone who is more conservative, if not very so. The Vatican under Francis had been the most progressive it had been in decades. And it ruffled the feathers of many conservative clergies.
- They are priests, they are all the same, no matter the cult or the specific affiliation (Jesuit in this case): https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/pope-paedophile-priests-children-god-vatican-b2336786.html
  
  According to the article, the context for the flashy headline is that all Catholics are children of God and that all must be treated with compassion, while still acknowledging that pedophiles are monsters.
  I will not pretend that Francis's hands are totally clean. He has mistreated abuse cases in the past. Around 2019 he actually started implementing some reforms that have to some extent helped. While I don't think he did enough, he did much more than his predecessors. I highly suspect the next pope will be another Benedict and not another Francis. Consequently, I suspect that the mishandling will get worse.

Pope: dies
Corpo God : "We are happy to announce the relocation of Pope Francis to his next steps within the company. We are thankful for their contribution for the last 12 years and we look forward to their future achievements. BR, management.
- Someone liked this guys death...

Yeah, “guess I’ll die” is a normal reaction to meeting JD.
- Yeah, it's sarcastic but could be definitely true: https://newsthump.com/2025/04/21/pope-loses-will-to-live-after-meeting-jd-vance/
  
  Speculation is now mounting as to whether Vance might face manslaughter charges if lawyers can prove that sucking all hope from a room is technically a crime.
  Lmao this has my rolling

I declare myself pope, and as my first official act, I'm excommunicating all my antipopes!
- This has so been done. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conclavism
- I declare myself Epop and denounce the Pope!

Friendly reminder: Progressive for a pope is still a transphobe who actively facilitated the rape of children. Not to mention all the horrific colonizer shit.
Rest in piss Frankie boy.
- It's like, he was pretty woke for a Pope, but, he was still a Pope.
  I don't think things would have worked out well had he gone full prog anyway. There'd be schisms for sure. Hell, Trump would probably declare an American Catholic Church and have himself elected Pope of it. (Shit, I really shouldn't have given him that idea)
  I don't really know which way he personally felt. But even a Jesuit at the end of the day is a Catholic.
  
  You'll understand if I honestly don't care if a fundamentally hateful and harmful org broke up.
  If "maybe we should stop supporting transphobia and rape and..." will kill an org... that org probably shouldn't exist at all.
- I hate that you're right. Like, seeing how kind and compassionate the man was outwardly in the day to day and knowing of the horrors he and the church participated in and tried to hide... It makes me all the more sour to organized religion.
- 100%
  After the way he let Robert Finn skate when he ran cover for a priest raping kids, Francis belongs in Hell. It's a bummer that Hell isn't a real place.
  
  I mean... he spent some of his final hours with jd vance. Doesn't get more hellish than that.

May he rest in peace.

Rest in peace Pope Francis 🕯️

yeah fuck that guy anyways.

Can I have his Easter eggs then?

Did Vance/Trump mafia kill him because the Pope upset him?

Good. I’m an indigenous person who has plenty of relatives who suffered under church run schools. This pope was nothing but a PR figurehead, down vote me all you want but my native brown ass is finished worshiping your popes and colonial religion.
I will take down votes with pride, it’s not new for me to get shit on for refusing to bow to this colonial, religious idiocy
- I'm surprised there's not a bigger anti-Christian movement among the various colonized cultures, to be honest.
  
  A lot of them adopted Christianity and made their own version. Few are Catholic, mostly just Latin America it seems.
  Christianity adopted and adapted a lot of local religions and traditions when it spread outside the Roman Empire, so really it's only fair that people adapt Christianity to their own cultures.
- I understand the abhorrent history of church run schools, but what did Pope Francis, specifically, do to garner such hatred from you? He's been the most liberal pope we've ever had? Celebrating the previous popes death, I get, but Francis?

My guess is that they will elect a conservative pope to replace Francis. It is no secret that there are court intrigues and in-fighting in the Vatican between progressive and conservative clergies. Pope Francis openly went toe to toe with many ultraconservative, MAGA clergies in America, de-frocking one of the priests.
- Vatican itself does not have much influence on this election. Francis was smart enough to appoints lots of bishops from "remote" regions like for example Mongolia or Pakistan, who have not been able to form political networks with each other and make it far more difficult for court intrigues to work out. Yes , the conclave surely will see those again, but there should be a counter weight at play here
- There is no progressive in the catholic church
  
  You ended up in the Catholic thread bro, everyone here bought the PR and actually believed this guy was good

Trump only likes popes that don't die at a similar age. In fact, had the pope become president and leading racist nazi asshole, he would be alive today.
My theory is that pope Francis when to see where the heck god is at. Cuz WTF man!
- Man had to go see for himself if humanity really killed God

~~So him not meeting Vance earlier may not have been a snub then~~ ☹️ (he did)
Was he involved in any of the traditional Easter stuff? (He was)
- I mean... he did meet Vance. I don't know why there was lies being spread around about that. All you have to do is do a quick little search and you'll get pics from several angles of the pope and Vance chatting.
  I will say, though, that the pope looked rough, so it isn't super surprising that he passed shortly after.
  
  That's what I get for getting my news from Lemmy memes.
  Updated my comment
  
  On Saturday April 19th he met with Pietro Parolin. This was framed as a snub. On Sunday 20th he met with Francis.
- “I know you have not been feeling great but it’s good to see you in better health,” Mr. Vance told the pope, according to video footage of the visit

One Pope closer to "Peter the Roman":
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prophecy_of_the_Popes

Ope. There goes the Pope.

Siento que hay tanto más que podría haber hecho y no pudo o por la edad o por el rozamiento con el resto del sistema. Le tocara a sus sucesores continuar supongo...
Entiendo porqué, pero también lamento que no haya vuelto Argentina.
QEPD Bergoglio

RIP.
- This is such a weak form of expressing emotion and respect that it actually expresses the opposite.
  
  username checks out
- Rest in piss indeed

I'd love to make a joke about Russia sabotaging the pope election, but it wouldn't even surprise me...

So was he promoted or fired by the man upstairs?
- Relocated to another position, a lateral movement perhaps.

There goes one neighborhood in Rome

He didn‘t die. He became more powerful than you could ever imagine.
- Somehow Palp.....I mean Pope returned.

Repeat with me: "Morto 'n papa, se ne fa n'antro".
This is Romanesco (the dialect of Rome) for "When a Pope is dead, another one is made", usually used to comment situations in which the present condition will not be changed simply because of how the underlying mechanisms work.
Literally nothing to see here.
- It is generally used similarly to "life goes on". Even if with more pessimism about the fact that certain things don't change (sometimes for good though).
  It is still going to be a big deal for a few weeks though...
  
  Depends how tuned in you are. If it wasn't for this pinned post on Lemmy I wouldn't have known.

When we needed him more than ever.

Damn, that was one crazy pope.

Wonder if he really made it through the Easter or whether they kept it covered so that it looked like so
- He made an appearance at Easter mass yesterday.
  
  Mustered up that last goodbye to the people
  
  Hologram technology really has come a long way
- Did they do an Easter at Bernies?