Posted on 01/28/2015 11:21:28 AM PST by Gamecock
On Sunday in St. Peter's Square, balloons were released as a gesture of peace instead of the traditional symbol of flying doves.
This comes one year after an attack by a seagull and a crow on the symbolic birds ignited protests by animal protection groups.
Ever since Pope John Paul II started the tradition of releasing doves on the last Sunday of January every year, children have been at a window of the papal studio overlooking the square with the pope, setting free a pair of doves for world peace, according to the Associated Press.
In 2014, the act of goodwill turned ugly when the birds were attacked mid-flight.
After the children, alongside Pope Francis, tossed a pair of doves from the window, a seagull swept down, then a crow got into the action, and the doves were attacked.
Animal rights advocates demanded the church put an end to the dove releases.
They appealed directly to Pope Francis himself, who is the first pope ever to take the name of Saint Francis of Assisi, a holy man known for his adoration of birds and other wild creatures.
When children in the square let go of their balloons pope Francis said, according to the Associated Press, "Here's the balloons that mean, 'peace.'"
Many gulls make their nests atop the colonnade of St. Peter's Square, not far from the Tiber River, and there they look for garbage. For an animal advocacy group, this meant putting the dove's lives at risk by freeing them.
After the seagull and crow incident, there were all kinds of Tweets and Facebook posts using words such as "demonic," "omen" and "apocalypse" to describe what the attack on the doves meant.
So, why did the seagull and crow attack the doves?
The National Geographic put it simply by saying the doves were attacked because they were "bred to be unnaturally white."
Fabio approves.
Just browsed the popes facebook page, no mention of Jesus.
So, why did the seagull and crow attack the doves?
Cause they are frigen animals and animals do animal things..Get over it Pope
I don’t like this Pope
Pity the poor bird that accidentally swallows one of those balloons after it deflates and drops to the earth...
;-)
Other birds will starve now.
That also explains why Iceland is constantly being invaded...
How is releasing balloons into the air different from littering?
Well this is actually a pretty good demonstration of what can and will happen to peace hippies in the real world.
Peace through strength.
Weakness invites aggression.
Survival of the fittest.
All that good stuff.
A sign that we are living in the last days.
what an omen...
Worst Pope ever. Leftist as they get.
Are those balloons or condoms?
what the heck happened to Fabio??
Truly the end of days.
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