A little late for the blog, I know, but I lost sleep over him the night before he died. Part of it over "Wow...the guy whose portrait I saw everyday for 12 years of my Catholic education is about to come off the wall," and most of it over "Holy crap...here's a guy who's chosen religion and God as a way of life in preparation for this exact moment AND became the freakin' 'king' of it all...he's about to find out if it was all worth it..." I was scared for him.
so my reaction to the pope's passing was somewhat immature. while i wanted to talk about it with other people, i didn't just want to say blah blah pope died blah blah what do you think blah blah i saw it on tv blah blah how much do you think that suit he was buried in wieghed? really, i couldn't stop wondering "did the pope ever have sex?!" i've had countless conversations about this very questions, and, as it turns out, everyone has an opinion. so... what's yours? i'm *dying* to know
ReplyDeletenot an immature reaction at all--call me crazy but i *do* think that john paul was a virgin (and i'm considering his sexual interaction with men, women, and children here).
ReplyDeletefrom a woman's perspective i can see how some women in the clergy could go without sexual contact, including masturbation, especially if she's never had an orgasm, however i think many men would have trouble keeping their hands at least off of themselves because society and science truely or falsely socializes us to believe that the build up and release of sperm is a biological *need*...leading my socialized self to believe that the pope *must* have been a masturbator, rationalizing his "sin" to be a need. but who knows? i'm also sure there's one 85 year old priest that's been successful at never touching himself --but i imagine a darker, sort of extreme sadomasochistic side to his personality and basis for religious beliefs than john paul 2...something like our new pope, Benedict 16, actually (in my own made up vatican stories i think Ratzinger was in love with john paul and would have acted on it if john paul 2 was the type to act on it too). but then i think about my friend who factually knows that his uncle (a priest) had sex specifically before going into the seminary because he wanted to experience sex before taking a vow to be chaste, i can only suppose to put his curiousity at ease so that he could better carry out his job rather than being distracted by the temptation--something i could also imagine a lot of priests doing. and these are probably the priests with personality because they're a little more in touch with society's issues or people in general. supposedly john paul 2 had personality and i thought he was an attractive man so then again...? who knows!? i still err on saying, no, he never had sex.