Pope's Death

Moz- The Pope doesn't sentence anyone to death. The people who have AIDS caught it without any assistance from His Holiness.

Anyway, aside from that nonsense, coverage of the Papal Requiem Mass and Election will be extensive since he is the leader of more people in the world than anyone else. The ceremony will be beautiful, as was his 25th anniversary Mass in St Peter's Square last year.

You guys need to read 'The Da Vinci Code' then you'll know about the Pope!

Rubbish. Lots of them caught AIDS when they had unprotected sex because the Pope insists that they don't use condoms.

The WHO and many other sensible bodies have tried again and again to talk reason to 'His Holiness' explaining the devastating impact of his mad rule and he chooses to ignore them.

He is directly responsible.

Anyway, this is a TV pres forum so let's leave this here.

Surley anyone who beileves in what the Pope preaches, must see his death as the most joyful day of his existance.

Or is there a bit of doubt there

Well, you'd be amazed to see how much we may agree on certain issues regarding the Pope or Catolicism. Still, you should keep in mind that some members on this forum may respect him. Take it into consideration when making jokes.

I think we are veering too far off topic chaps. Some comments are a bit too unneccessary for many viewers on this forum, who will be offended by some of the remarks.
So, back in the UK today, is this story (of the Pope's hospitalisation) leading the news? Is it still the top story?

'The Real Da Vinci Code' at 2100 Thursday 3rd on Channel 4 apparently widely debunks much of what the book claims. Just to bring it back to TV for a moment...!

Not far wrong there, was I?

I rarely see much point in justifying anything I say on here, but just for once let me clarify that my firm belief is that we were all given a sense of humour by God, just as we were given all his other gifts; and he would expect us to make use of that gift just as he expects us to make use of all the others.

We're not hugely off topic as the opinions of the people who live in this country as regards an individual will affect the news coverage and presentation of that individual's life and death. I have to agree with the views expressed by others that his assertion that all forms of contraception is wrong has undoubtedly led to millions more people being put at risk of HIV infection. More on that from Reuters here. This is a man who calls homosexuality "deviant behaviour" and that to allow gay couples to adopt children would be "doing violence" to those children. You can read a little more on that here, from CNN. You'll therefore no doubt understand why this old man's passing will not cause me too much distress, and if he himself believes what he's preached then it won't bother him too much either.

Leaving aside his questionable views, and looking at it on a purely medical basis, he's clearly been ill for a long time and I don't know about you but I don't want to be lingering on for years if I'm unlucky enough to be ill in later life, unable to do anything for myself.

To answer your other question, yes, his failing health is still leading most bulletins.

Indeed.

I remember the considerable coverage of his election, all those years ago.

It will be interesting to see the differences this time round with far more channels, specifically news channels, to cover it; and the fact that this country is now far more "multi-faith" than it was, theoretically making the percentage of Roman Catholics somewhat lower.

I see that News 24 has Jon Sopel live outside the hospital.

It similar to the whole Yasser Arafat saga back in November............Lyse Doucet was outside the compound in Ramallah for two weeks before he died then another few days after with the funeral etc.

Can we expect Lyse in Rome anytime soon or even in The Vatican