Pope, Pope, Pope, Pope, Pope

It may be unbelievable to some of you, considering my past posts, but I am praying for the Pope every day.

It's not as if we don't have our (huge) share of disagreements:
- homosexuality
- birth control
- abortion
- that whole "Jews don't go to heaven" debacle.
- The veiled "women should be subservient" stance.

However, there's something very pure about "il papa."

You have to admire a guy that visited his attempted assassin in jail, and publicly forgave him. (A true forgiveness, not media lip-service.) You have to appreciate a guy who has not stopped doing his job - every Sunday, and beyond - for 26 years, even after said assassination attempt.

My background is 1/2 Italian and 1/2 polish, which works perfectly for this Pope. I may never have been to Poland, and have never been able to speak Polish -- but I'm still proud of the only non-Italian,Polish Pope in the history of the Vatican.

I wonder how much of the recent declarations by the Vatican can be traced closer to the Pope's close advisors, and not so close to the Pope. He seems like a much more forgiving and liberal person than most of his close Cardinals. He has proven himself a man who can admit mistakes - not just his own - but mistakes on behalf of a religion that counts over one billion members.