(before)
I heard earlier today that Karol Wojtyla is receiving food via a feeding tube and that he has effectively expressed his will that he be kept alive by artificial means even if he were to fall into a coma or a persistent vegetative state. At this point, especially since he has hand-picked the members of the college of electors which would choose his successor, presumably a man pretty much in his own dark political image and likeness, it occurs to me that almost nothing could be healthier for the world than to be without a governing pope for as long as possible.
Although I would really enjoy the pageantry which would inevitably surround the placement of a new CEO, even in the twenty-first century (what kind of hat will he pick, and will they bring back the ostrich-feather fans?), were it up to me I would gladly forego those pleasures in the interest of bringing about a better world. It is thus with only the best graces that I extend to him, to his firm and to the entire planet my best wishes for years, and hopefully decades, of a successful relationship between the man called John Paul II and any unnatural life-sustaining mechanisms available.
Still, it does seem pretty weird to me that a man who has so often in the past condemned any artificial means of controlling birth (even if the extraordinarily-simple device also stops the transmission of a deadly AIDS virus) should be such a strong advocate against natural death. But surely the god has her reasons.
[scary image from GodBlogging]