John Paul II
I hardly knew John Paul I. He was whacked one month into office. I heard that his mysterious death had a lot to do with the banking laws which he was going to reform. The Catholic Church owns more real estate around the world than any other entity. Lots of people behind the scenes were pissed off that he was gonna cut them out of the scheme. And JP1 was eliminated faster than he was elected.
That's when JP2 sprang into action. He was the first non-Italian Pope in four and a half centuries. Who would have thunk that a second rate chemical salesmen from Poland would end up becoming Pope? Yeah and there are still rumors, hearsay, and conspiracy theories that say that the Pope once sold cyanide to Nazis so they could use it to kill Jews during WWII.
I was 8 years old when I found out about the Pope John Paul II getting shot in an unorthodox way. It was late afternoon in Spring. I was shagging fly balls in the outfield at the local park for little league practice. One of my teammates, Corey Feldman, told me the news. He's not that Corey Feldman but the only son of Dr. Harvey Feldman, a pediatrician and his wife Esther. I can recall with near perfect detail Corey chewing gum, blowing a bubble, and having it pop he as muttered, "Your Pope got shot."
"My Pope?" and that's when the discussion between the difference in Catholicism and Judaism began and I learned from one of my many Jewish teammates that they did not have a Pope to follow around.
They agreed that the only cool thing about going to Catholic grammar school was that we got off for school when the last two Popes died. I secretly rooted that JP2 wouldn't make it. Alas, he survived and lived longer than I expected. Decades later, I would even made money betting on the exact date of his death.
So, rest in peace JP2. I wanna start a pool and figure out what the new Pope's name is gonna be....? How about Pope Jodd I?
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