Heya , you two. Do a.... either of you hava any a pull witha da pope?
Posted on 06/27/2002 6:26:44 AM PDT by Cagey
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - "Excuse me, your eminence, but if you don't put out that cigarette, I will have to slap you with a Papal fine."
That might be the warning a lowly Vatican policeman may have to recite to a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church next week when smoking will be effectively banned indoors in the Vatican.
A law approved by Pope John Paul and made public on Thursday will ban smoking in nearly all closed spaces inside the 108-acre city-state as of July 1.
The law entrusts the Vatican's tiny police force with enforcement. Violators, including cardinals and archbishops whom the policemen usually greet with a military salute, can be slapped with a fine of 30 euros ($30).
Under the law, "No Smoking" signs must be placed around the Vatican. Since the official language of the Church is Latin, it was not clear if some signs eventually would be in Latin.
If so, they would read "Vetatur Fumare" (No Smoking) or "Prohibetur Uti Fumo" (the use of smoke is prohibited), speculates Father Reginald Foster, a Latin scholar who translated the Vatican's cash point machines from Italian into the language of ancient Rome.
The Pope, who signed the no smoking law on June 4, is the Vatican's supreme monarch. So in theory, he could violate it at will.
But he doesn't smoke.
Is that black smoke coming from the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican? One of the most famous traditions of the succession ritual is the appearance of smoke from the chimney of the conclave room. The eligible cardinals conduct a secret ballot until someone receives a vote of two-thirds plus one. The ballots are burned after each vote. Black smoke (straw is mixed with the ballots) indicates a failed ballot, white smoke means a new pope has been elected. Since the cardinals meet in isolation, it's the only way to inform the public about the proceedings.
During the coronation of a new Pope, flax is burned and the words Sic transit gloria mundi, "Thus passes the glory of the world," are recited. It's meant to represent the temporary nature of earthly glory. Popes come and go, but the papacy, one of the world's enduring institutions, continues to provide spiritual guidance to over a billion Catholics.
Your electric bill must be staggering.
Ya quit smoking...huh?
Heya , you two. Do a.... either of you hava any a pull witha da pope?
LOL...Carol will be thinking cigarettes when she sees that word.
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