The Old Pope

The Pope is resigning. I had no idea this was possible for a pope. I'm in a state of shock over the Pope. I thought the Pope had to die to not be the Pope any more. I just like to say the word "pope." But all this Pope talk has got me thinking. I am a member of Catholic church. I'm a bad Catholic though. Sorry Noni. My Noni goes to church every day. I go....every year. And I will never be used to that "and also with your spirit" stuff. Probably because I only have to remember it once a year. For 18 years of my life, there was no "also with your spirit." It was simple. "And also with you." Now, for the last two years they've changed it on me. Anyway, enough blubbering about my bad church-going habits. Let's talk about the Pope.
The process of picking a pope fascinates me. The cardinals go into the Sistine Chapel and I don't know what they do exactly, but a smoke signal is released and if it' black, no new pope. If the smokes turns white, hey, we have a new pope. I imagine it's like American Idol. The cardinals go in and out and people vote and white smoke means you're going to Hollywood! Or in this case, Vatican City!
I've never seen a young pope. Of course, I think there's only been two popes in my lifetime, but still. The Pope is always kinda old. Who are we kidding? The Pope is always old. This job is a lot of pressure for an old guy. I imagine that's why Pope Benedict XV something...the 16th, is leaving the Pope-acy. Nope, I don't think that's a word either. Then, on top of all the stress of running the Catholic church, especially nowadays, the Pope's gotta wear that big hat on his head. Now, I love that hat don't get me wrong. It's fabulous. But it's gotta be heavy. And the Pope never has fabulous posture. I've never seen a Pope with great posture. The only logical conclusion is that this is because of the hat. Or he is just old.
I often wonder the Pope does in every day life. Is the Pope like a regular old person? My grandparents aren't as old as the Pope, but when I go visit either of my them, both of my Grandpas are usually watching television. They do plenty of other things, too, but TV is the big one. Sound familiar? Yes. Maybe excessive TV watching runs in my family. But I just assume everyone watches a lot of TV because what else could you possibly do? Especially if you are as old as the Pope. So, does the Pope watch a lot of TV? What does he do all day? What does the Pope do in his spare time? Does the Pope have spare time? Maybe he just rides around the Vatican in the Popemobile.
Regardless of what the Pope does in his spare time, if it exists, the Pope still has a pretty tough job. The Catholic church is behind on the times, in my opinion. The Pope has to deal with this kind of criticism daily. Plus all the priests. I won't even go into that. Maybe that's why the Pope has bad posture. Under that robe he's gotta wear, he stores all the confessions from the priests. Anyway, even the President of the United States is never as old as the Pope. When someone runs for Prez and they are approaching 70, they are considered ancient and too old to handle the job. The Pope is 85. The man has lived for 85 years and now they make him run the Catholic church. At 85, unless I'm as cool as Betty White, I hope I'm well into retirement. I understand, the older, the wiser. That is, until you're so old, you don't remember to put pants on before you leave your house. I wonder if the Pope has someone helping him put his socks on. Maybe the Pope can put his own socks on.
I have many questions about the Pope.
Regardless, the Pope is old.
And maybe, cardinals, we should look for a younger Pope. Especially now.
Unless there's a rule I'm unaware of that you have to be pretty old to be a pope.

On a side note, Catholic church and new Pope, whom ever you may be, make mass more exciting. We should have a dance party....or an ice cream bar.