HACKWATCH MONEY FOR OLD POPE
Crowds of people
“PEOPLE’S POPE.”
“THE PEOPLE’S POPE.”
“THE PEOPLE’S POPE.”
“A POPE OF THE PEOPLE.”
“WORLD MOURNS DEATH OF THE ‘PEOPLE’S POPE’.”
– Front-page headlines in
Mirror
,
i
paper,
Daily Star
,
Daily Record
,
Scotsman
, 22 April – exactly the same number of papers which proclaimed Pope John Paul II “The People’s Pope” when he died in 2005
Turning the other cheek
“The Pope is old and unwell. In whatever time he has left, he surveys his years as pontiff and counts only failure. What does he leave behind? Collapsing attendance, theological confusion, a few sentimental encyclicals and a positive meeting with Whoopi Goldberg… by constantly banging on about politics and vandalising tradition, he distracts from the harder, greater work of getting on with being a Christian – of rolling up your sleeves and loving. His profession of open-mindedness has spelt indulgent self-examination. His pursuit of relevance makes the Church sound embarrassingly outdated.” –Tim Stanley,Spectator, 19 December 2023