Bostonist went over to the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in the South End yesterday to pay respects to Pope John Paul II at a mass offered in his honor at 4 p.m. It was only appropriate that we went, Bostonist felt bad when we missed out on the Easter services because we were too busy nursing 12 cavities after taking Gothamist’s advice on what to do with your candy. We liked Pope John Paul II because he was the most famousest person in the world. He had been seen by more people than any other person on earth. Bostonist would like to give props to JP deuce for ending communism (the bad kind) in Poland and opposing the death penalty.
To all of our Catholic friends we would like to express our solidarity. Even Gov. Mitt Romney and his wife came out to the service at the Cathedral in support of the Boston area Catholics. Archbishop O’Malley recognized and welcomed the Mormon Romney into the church after the initial procession. We’re still not really sure what brought Mitt over from the Celtics game where the Governor of Pennsylvania and his wife sang the National Anthem. A media circus surrounded the Cathedral Saturday and Sunday, live reports for all four locals were fed from satellite trucks parked up and down Dartmouth and Washington Streets. 
Pope fever seems to have invaded all media outlets. From Sunday morning talk shows, to local reporters live at the Vatican, to Frontline specials on the Pontiff, WBUR’s preemption of the Boston based Car Talk broadcast on Saturday morning, to the Metro’s first three pages this morning the Pope’s death has taken control of every outlet. Even Bostonist is jumping on the Pope coverage bandwagon.
We’ve got an eye to the future on this one. After George Stephanopoulos interviewed Bernard Cardinal Law on ABC’s This Week yesterday Bostonist got to thinking: Isn’t there more to the Catholic Church than sex scandals? For a time there wasn’t. The scandal has prompted numerous prosecutions and resignations from the Church (and raised O’Malley to head of the Boston Archdiocese after Law’s departure). There should be an opportunity with John Paul II’s passing that the Catholic Church can find a way to reinvigorate itself. Archbishop Desmond Tutu made a statement today that he hoped the next Pontiff would hail from Africa. Bostonist thinks that this is an interesting idea, in fact we really like the idea of a Pope of Color and how that might affect the southern United States. What worries us, however, is what that might do for the AIDS epidemic in Africa. It’s already hard enough to convince folks to use condoms; perhaps the message of abstinence will be strong enough. Bostonist’s word to the conclave meeting in the Vatican: Be Brazen!
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