More Popish Trickery Revealed!

Catholic News Service has the humorous story of how the late Holy Father used to sneak out of the Vatican to frolic ... on the ski slopes:

Pope John Paul II made more than 100 clandestine trips to ski or hike in the Italian mountains and was rarely recognized by others on the slopes, his former secretary said.

Polish Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz described the secret outings in a book of memoirs, "A Life With Karol," which was being published in late January. An excerpt appeared Jan. 23 in the Rome newspaper Il Messaggero.

The cardinal, who was Pope John Paul's personal secretary for 38 years, wrote that the pope, an avid skier and hiker in his youth, often felt pent up inside the Vatican.

In the winter of 1981, the pope, his secretary and two of his Polish aides decided to make a "getaway" to the mountains from the papal villa in Castel Gandolfo.

They packed into a car owned by one of the priests, in order not to raise suspicions, and when they passed the Swiss Guard post one prelate opened wide a newspaper to hide the pontiff in the back seat.

Then they drove to the central Italian ski town of Ovindoli without an escort, winding through mountain towns and carefully respecting the speed limits.

Once they arrived, they chose a deserted slope and the pope was able to ski all day long. On the way back, the pope smiled and said, "We did it!" It was the first of many such escapes, the papal secretary said.

Hilarious! No word yet if Pope Benedict is also covertly sneaking out of the Vatican, not to ski but to visit used bookstores.

Comments

[Jeff Miller]

Ha Carl, your last line was perfect. I remember reading one of the Pope's comments when he talked about - I believe things passing away like mountains and "even books."

[Ed Peters]

This could create a whole new genre: stories of "pope sightings", like, "I just KNEW that was JP2 at XXX that time, but I couldn't beleive it at the time."

[cranky]

Fantastic last line!!!

[Ed Peters]

btw: i am truly glad i had the experience of the used book store. really, there was something about it, and i bought hundreds of books in them. but, dude, ain't no way i'd go back to that instead of the internet. i get dozens of terrific titles from all over the world at competitive prices any time of the day or nite.

i mean, really, there is no comparison.

so, maybe the pope can sneak out to wireless cafe for a latte and a surf.

[Matthew-John]

But used book stores have such an incredible smell of well, old books :-) Maybe Amazon should bottle some of that scent to include with each shipment?

[Carl Olson]

i mean, really, there is no comparison.

I agree. Sorta. I think it's an apples and oranges type of comparison. There's no doubt that the internet has been a wonderful tool for book lovers. But there is nothing quite like walking into a used book store and getting lost for a few hours. It's like wandering through a semi-magical world--magical, perhaps, if it's the right book store, such as Loome's or even Powells (in Portland, Oregon, one of the largest bookstores in the world). Part of the difference, at least to me, is that the internet is wonderful if you know what you're looking for. Used book stores (at least the good ones) have all sorts of surprises hidden away for those who have the patience to find them.

I know that Russell Kirk, who I admire very much, was rather upset that used bookstores were dying out back in the 1980s. But hopefully, if he were with us today, he'd see that such bookstores can really benefit--as can book buyers--from the internet; it can be a "win/win" situation. A great example is a local Christian bookstore here in Eugene, Oregon. Windows Bookstore, which specializes in hard-to-find and out-of-print works of theology, history, and philosophy, does about 75% of its business online. But the physical bookstore is wonderful to visit, with a coffee shop and internet cafe on the premises. Thus, everyone who wishes to can benefit from the bookstore, whether in person or via cyberspace.

[Ed Peters]

If I want to smell old books, I walk into my office at the sem., or down to my basement office at home. Luv it. Or, come to think of it, Russell Kirk's barn size library at his house in Mecosta. My eyes popped out just seeing it, lo these many years ago, a whole WALL of current periodicals! Anyway, gotta surf the net for some great used books. See ya!

[Brian John Schuettler]

"If I want to smell old books, I walk into my office at the sem., or down to my basement office at home. Luv it."
You know, Ed, that might not be old books, it might be mold.

[Ed Peters]

True. Tell me I'm imagining it, but the old books I buy from England DO smell moldy. Foggy old England.

[richard stancik]

QUESTION I HAVE LOOKING EVERY WHERE FOR THE BOOK TITLED
MY LIFE WITH KAROL.
CAN YOU HELP ME?
R. STANCIK