[sinkspur]

Pius X was so strong that he was stamping out operatic vocal effects during the Mass in Italy when he was Pope. THAT was crisis in the Church in his time. People were ordered NOT to applaud him when he was carried into St. Peter's on the sedia gestatoria out of humility on his part. JPII has got it all backwards, he got rid of the royal marks of the papacy and allows himself to be lauded by the frenzied masses. I don't think he's ever understood the nature of the papacy as well as his predecessors of the first half of the 20th century and before.

John Paul II understands the Papacy perfectly. He wears the shoes of the Fisherman, not the tiara of a king.

If Popes are to follow in the footsteps of Him who had nowhere to lay His Head, they are right to rid the Papacy of Triumphalism.

[Gerard.P]

You've got it backwards. Christ is risen and he no longer needs a place to rest his head. The Vicar is minding the Church and we are waiting for his return on Clouds of Glory. The Catholic Church is about the triumphant King of Glory.

Pius X was the fisherman in his life and piety. He was the leader and knew that the papacy was much larger than Guiseppe Sarto. When he healed people at their request, he said, "It's not me, it's the power of the Keys."

Triumphalism is for fakes. The Glorious Popes were not fakes.

When JPII abandons triumphalism and forbids the crowds to chant, "John Paul II! We love you!" then, he'll be fitting in the shoes of the fisherman that St. Pius X walked in.

[ultima ratio]

"John Paul II understands the Papacy perfectly. He wears the shoes of the Fisherman, not the tiara of a king."

I don't think he thinks he's a fisherman, and I don't think he thinks he's a king. I think he thinks he's some kind of rock star.