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You are here: Home / But it’s so hard to refuse

But it’s so hard to refuse

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The papal resignation is fascinating:

Rev Lombardi said he would continue to wear a simple white cassock, but his footwear would change.

Gone will be the red “Prada” loafers, replaced by brown shoes made in Leon, Mexico.

A pair was given to the Pope on a recent trip there. After Thursday, the Pope’s “fisherman’s ring” will also be destroyed.

His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI Pays A State Visit To The UK - Day 2

Reader Interactions

131Comments

  3. 3.

    MikeJ

    I thought he could just turn his fisherman’s ring around, you know, pointing at the world to tell people he’s on the market again.

    relationship status: it’s complicated.

  4. 4.

    ellie

    When I first saw this photo I was taken aback that the shoes weren’t all sparkly, like Dorothy’s from The Wizard of Oz or the cover of Eldorado. It was confusing for a moment.

  8. 8.

    Comrade Dread

    @ellie: Those are only for when they go out clubbing.

    I too find myself fascinated. Mostly at wondering how all of the pomp and circumstances feels really out of place in a religion that claims to be directly descended from a penniless, itinerate rabbi who spent his time devoted to the poor, the sick, the outcasts of society and had nothing but bad things to say about the organized religious leaders of His day.

  9. 9.

    dmsilev

    After Thursday, the Pope’s “fisherman’s ring” will also be destroyed.

    Thrown into the volcano where it was originally forged, I trust.

  13. 13.

    Omnes Omnibus

    Oh, I know that [he’s] disgusted. (Oh why’s that)
    ‘Cause [he’s] feeling so abused. (Oh that’s too bad)
    [He] gets tired of the lust, (Oh I’m so sad)
    But it’s so hard to refuse.

  14. 14.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Comrade Dread:

    claims to be directly descended from a penniless, itinerate rabbi who spent his time devoted to the poor, the sick, the outcasts of society and had nothing but bad things to say about the organized religious leaders of His day.

    DFH lies!

  15. 15.

    beltane

    They say his official title will be “Pope Emeritus”. There is a joke there but I’m too tired to think of what it could be.

  20. 20.

    Poopyman

    BTW, in actual news:

    All of the Republican stalling and temper tantrums over Republican former Sen. Chuck Hagel’s nomination for defense secretary, including an historic filibuster, succeeded in drawing out the confirmation process and giving a number of Republican senators a chance to grandstand extensively. But all that has finally given way to a cloture vote in which the Senate voted, 71 to 27, to move forward to an actual up or down vote.

  21. 21.

    Djur

    @Patricia Kayden: Every Pope gets his own seal ring bearing the device of Peter as fisherman of souls. It’s cast from gold for the new Pope and then ceremonially melted down in front of the cardinals after he dies. This is to prevent the manufacture of fraudulent papal missives (“hey guys, look what we just found in the Popemobile’s glove compartment, it has his seal and everything”).

    Apparently Ratzinger wears his on a daily basis, which is unusual.

  28. 28.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    Same thing happened to Dorothy when she returned to Kansas, she lost the Ruby Slippers.

  33. 33.

    scav

    Huh, just remembered one of the traditional ways of recognizing the Devil in all his disguises is looking for the cloven hooves (CGI resistent, apparently). Are red non-cloven feet the Pope tell for those of wishing to avoid both? In any case, quite the footwear fetishists the group is revealing itself as. Quite the least of their freaks.

  34. 34.

    Quaker in a Basement

    “the Pope’s “fisherman’s ring” will also be destroyed.”

    Not the precious! Must have the precious!

  45. 45.

    Amir Khalid

    It’s probably just my laptop monitor, but that colour looks kind of like Doc Martens Cherry Red leather to me.

  49. 49.

    ? Martin

    @rikyrah:

    I know it’s happening, but I still can’t believe that you can up and give God a ‘ two week notice’ and be outta there.

    Two weeks is plenty. The big man can build two whole universes in that time. Should be no problem getting a replacement and training them up in time.

  52. 52.

    PurpleGirl

    @PeakVT: I didn’t know that Etna was active but I was going to suggest it anyway. (My mother’s family comes from a couple of small villages on the slope of Etna.)

  55. 55.

    Amir Khalid

    @rikyrah:
    Well, a guy in his position gets to say what the rules are; and by definition, no one gets to contradict him. According to Wikipedia, the very first pope to quit the job did so right after making up receiving from God the rule that popes were allowed to quit.

  57. 57.

    ...now I try to be amused

    HE’S GIVING UP THE SHOES? Now that’s the biggest surprise of all. I was thinking he resigned to avoid all the red shoe snark.

  58. 58.

    Comrade Dread

    @handsmile: I know, I’m one of those Protestant heretics, and goodness knows, we’ve got some of the same problems with church politics and spending our money on gilded cathedrals. Ours are just gaudier.

  63. 63.

    The Other Chuck

    @handsmile: Actually, Luther *mailed* his theses to the church. Somewhere along the way, someone changed a letter to have him nailing them to the church instead.

    It certainly is a nice visual, but it’s as tall a tale as Washington’s cherry tree.

  65. 65.

    The Other Chuck

    Tradition has it that when the time comes to select a new pope, the old pope gets whacked in the head with a hammer. I see no reason to stop this tradition just because the old pope is still alive.

  69. 69.

    The Other Chuck

    We can look forward to His Eminence giving an incoherent rambling farewell speech, then touring the countryside in the Popemobile® before settling down to a gig on Fox News.

  70. 70.

    Higgs Boson's Mate

    The “fisherman’s ring”? Is that the one they’re given when they’ve played The Lucky Fisherman with the 100th altar boy?

  71. 71.

    MomSense

    @ellie:

    Click your heels three times and say “There’s no place like Rome. There’s no place like Rome. There’s no place like Rome.”

  72. 72.

    scav

    For Etna watchers, this site looks good — has a web-cam link, plus attractive false-color satellite imagery to prove it’s not really happening.

  73. 73.

    Mister Harvest

    @Poopyman: So, help out someone who really does not understand these rituals. Was the entire point of the Hagel thing to give cover to Republican senators who are worried about a Tea Party primary challenge?

    After all, wasn’t Hagel McCain’s choice as SecDef? How much more “It’s not OK if the black guy does it” can one be?

  75. 75.

    MikeJ

    @Mister Harvest:

    Was the entire point of the Hagel thing to give cover to Republican senators who are worried about a Tea Party primary challenge?

    I think trying to annoy the dusky usurper was in there too.

  76. 76.

    Schlemizel

    Entertainment Tonight:
    The Pope, resplendent in a taupe gown from Balenciaga, kicky red flats by Prada and stunning hat by Harry Winston made a grand entrance on the red carpet . . .

  79. 79.

    Chris

    @Mister Harvest:

    I didn’t know Hagel was McCain’s pick for SecDef, but if so, it partly explains the petulance. It means McCain saw Hagel as “his” guy. For him to accept the same offer when made by the opposite side (worse, by the man who defeated McCain) is a betrayal that proves Hagel wasn’t on McCain’s side after all, and for that betrayal he must pay. McCain is one angry and vindictive son of a bitch.

  83. 83.

    Kay

    @Trollhattan:

    I suspect along with the eggnog and mistletoe, Hagel will disappear after the holidays.

    Gotta love that Jennifer Rubin. Paid, every day, to be wrong about everything.

  84. 84.

    Poopyman

    I can’t believe I’m the first one to point out that in the pic above, the Pope is wearing white socks with his Pradas. How tacky can you get? A nice Popish Argyle would look much better.

  85. 85.

    Chris

    @The Other Chuck:

    In other news, the sky is blue. liberals claim that the sky is blue, but conservatives strenuously and seriously retort that it is pink. Are liberals once again playing politics in a way that many claim endangers the nation’s very survival, or could some in the conservative establishment have made a slight and uncharacteristic mistake? We report, you decide!

    Fixed for media-worthiness.

  86. 86.

    handsmile

    @The Other Chuck:

    Well, wait just one pope-picking minute there, Charles!

    According to this section of the Intertubes, Luther (who was not, I admit, actually a punk-ass) may indeed have been a Wittenberg vandal:

    http://cyberbrethren.com/2010/04/07/did-luther-nail-the-theses-to-the-church-door-in-wittenberg/

    And as you know, the Intertubes, much like the Bishop of Rome, is inerrant.

    Also too, after a final spin around St. Peter’s Square tomorrow, Joey Ratz is going to have to give back the keys to the company car.

  87. 87.

    gbear

    After Thursday, the Pope’s “fisherman’s ring” will also be destroyed.

    He will become a fisher of men.

  88. 88.

    patrick II

    DougJ
    it seems that Kevin Drumm over mother Jones has changed his mind decided to call a filibuster a filibuster.

  90. 90.

    Trollhattan

    @Kay:

    Breathtaking, isn’t she? It’s hard to believe she wasn’t on Romney’s payroll, the persistent fashion on which she kept hawking him and his campaign. She’s Special.

  91. 91.

    jheartney

    Throwing the Ring into a volcano is right out. The Vatican would spontaneously collapse into ruin.

  94. 94.

    dance around in your bones

    Oh Gawd.

    Oh, Gawd? Wherefore art thou, oh Gawd? And dost thou approve of these men in red Prada shoes and gold fisherman’s rings?

    Take your time, but please answer in a form we might understand (i.e., no burning bushes or golden tablets).

  96. 96.

    grandpa john

    @Mister Harvest:

    Was the entire point of the Hagel thing to give cover to Republican senators who are worried about a Tea Party primary challenge?

    Definitely so in the case of Graham don’t kn ow about the others.

  108. 108.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Redshirt: Too bad, a hipster pope would be interesting. Eusebius, Tertullian, and Clement of Alexandria would be the next hot things.

  113. 113.

    dance around in your bones

    Oh FUCK YOU WORD PRESS, like, forever and ever!

    I’m stopping for some more wine.

  114. 114.

    dance around in your bones

    Ok.Pus.sy Strut by The Waitresses will prolly get moderated as well – but just try to find it, ok?

    You’ll thank me some day.

  116. 116.

    dance around in your bones

    @Omnes Omnibus: Gawd damn, Omnes!

    I was prolly 30 yrs old by then. Other than that we could be a good match! (hahaha – joke is all).

    But I still love The Waitresses.

  118. 118.

    dance around in your bones

    @Omnes Omnibus: Jesus fuck, that is profound.

    No, really – one can’t pick the year they are born or the family they are born into. That’s just fate, or karma, or some such shit.

    I guess we all just have to suck it up.

  119. 119.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @dance around in your bones: My s-i-l turned just turned forty and my 91 y/o grandmother nearly died last week due to heart problems – they just put in a pacemaker and she is on the road to recovery. I was thinking about some of this shit over the weekend.

  120. 120.

    Redshirt

    Tibetan reincarnation myth says you choose your birth parents based on your life experiences.

    Fun Rome Fact! The Romans had contact with Buddhism.

  121. 121.

    dance around in your bones

    @Omnes Omnibus: Aw, jeez – I am sorry to hear that.

    Unfortunately as we get older, these things become more and more frequent in our lives. I speak from experience.

  122. 122.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @dance around in your bones: The old lady may make it back to her home. She has to put in some time in a rehab facility, but there is hope. She is a tough old bird; neither ventricle of her heart was working, yet she is still kicking – just not very hard right now. Thanks for the sympathy; I fucking hate waiting around in hospitals.

  123. 123.

    dance around in your bones

    @Redshirt:

    Gads, I remember picking up a used book at my daughter’s wedding in Mexico called Destiny of Souls or something like that – it was all about our lives between our lives or something. It made a huge impression on me at the time.

    I really liked the idea that if your last life was really stressful, you could kinda hang out in a cave in a fetal position until you were ready to take on physical life again.

    ETA: Omnes – yes, hospitals suck.

  125. 125.

    Redshirt

    I’d also like to add how wonderful the picture is for this post. So vivid – lots of textures, and deep colors. Just an amazing photo, especially in evoking the Oz myth.

  126. 126.

    dance around in your bones

    @Redshirt:

    Oh, Redshirt – I read that back in the day. Like in the late 60’s. Not sure I understood anything but the most basic ‘been there, done that’ concept.

    I didn’t mean to step on your excellent book ref.

  128. 128.

    Jeff

    The current pope doesn’t get to decide what the next pope will wear. The only way this story makes sense is if the next pope has already been chosen and he’s telling people he’s wearing the brown shoes.

    It might also be interpretted as “MFer ain’t gettin’ my pradas and my ring.”

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