The World Gets A New Pope! - (A Prose Poem) Poem by Dr John Celes

Death spares no one!
Death spares no earthling!
Death spares no human being!
Death cuts the thread of life certainly;
And the Pope is no exception!

Pope John Paul II is no more!
The old shepherd had finally passed away;
He was eighty-four when he died;
He fell ill twice quite seriously;
He was Pope for nearly 26 years!
He was the ‘most traveled Pope’ and was a Poet too!
And he stood steadfast in all his spiritual endeavors;
He braved ‘the storms and calmed the seas that tried to capsize the Roman Catholic Ship’!
He led His flock to the Rock!
But some sheep did stray away;
Some had lost their faith;
Some went in search of ‘greener grass in newer meadows’;
But these were the souls which were dissatisfied, distraught and diseased!

A new Shepherd had been finally chosen!
Holy smoke from the Sistine Chapel’s chimney!
On three occasions, it remained black!
The anxious flock stayed back in St.Peter’s Square, all day and night!
They prayed fervently to God to give them a new Shepherd soon;
But each time they saw the black smoke, their hearts filled with sadness;
Yet, their faith never dithered;
The Holy Spirit would answer their prayers fast;
The Holy Spirit had never failed them in the last 2000 years after Jesus Christ!
He had always provided a new Pope whenever the earlier one died;
The people waited anxiously with hope in their hearts that were
already saddened by the demise of Pope John Paul II.

And Lo! There was the smoke again!
But this time, it was white;
The burning of the ballot papers caused the smoke from the Sistine Chapel’s chimney!
And it billowed up into the heavens!
And it was confirmed by the peeling of bells loudly.
A NEW POPE HAD BEEN CHOSEN!

The audio-visual effect was superb;
The flock cheered and sang thanks-giving hymns to the Lord;
They were jubilant and in ecstasy;
The air was rent with ‘Alleluias’!
The Holy Spirit had once more wrought a miracle;
A new Pope had been selected by the secret conclave of 115 cardinals.
God never abandons nor forsakes his flock!

Joseph Ratzinger, a German was the new Pope!
In thirty minutes, he chose the name of Benedict XVI.
He had served as Dean of the College of Cardinals for nearly twenty years earlier;
He was a man of great wisdom;
He was a great Philosopher, Professor of theology and an erudite scholar;
He had stunned the world with his orthodox, traditional approach;
He was simple and understanding, healthy and ever ready for dialogue with other religious leaders;
He was perhaps the best among the rest to lead the Church, in the new millennium;
He would lead the flock of more than a billion Roman Catholic people for the next few years on ‘their road to Heaven’!

‘Hope was reborn in the form of a new Pope’
The new Shepherd would tend to his flock and know each sheep by its name!
And they too would know their Shepherd’s voice and follow his footsteps without any hesitation on ‘The Road to Heaven’!

Copyright by Dr John Celes 21-4-2005