[Mrs. Don-o]

Miserare, perhaps you'll remember JPII kissed all gifts he was given: sombreros, soccer team jerseys, art prints, cheeses (cue: "Oh, how I love Cheeses",) various national flags, an umbrella, and even the airport tarmac. That doesn't mean he venerated them in a religious sense.

We tend to lack cultural literacy, or I might say accuracy.

[NFHale]

Thank, Mrs. Don-o.

I truly DID “miss” that episode.

What I did NOT “miss”, however, was JPII’s fortitude in going after the ideological face of the Evil Empire and making it his life’s mission to bring it down.

I also remember when he went to Poland - then still a part of the Iron Curtain, and millions of people showed up, and some communist POS general muttered words to the effect of “there’s too many of them, we can’t kill them all...”

I also remember thinking how proud I was that I was Catholic and THIS was the man that represented us and was “going to war” against communism, with Reagan and Maggie Thatcher by his side. At least, that’s how I remember it.

To me, that outweighs ANY little obscure event such as that mentioned.

[miserare]

Henceforth, I shall refer to him as “The Kissing Pope.”