The Obituary Column

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JRCarter wrote:

Heartthrob actor Richard Chamberlain, star of ‘Thorn Birds’, dies aged 90

He was the king of the miniseries between 1978 and 1983 in the US, including the original adaptation of SHOGUN.

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JRCarter, Al-x

Val Kilmer has died.

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/apr/02/val-kilmer-death-age-65-pneumonia

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Todd, njerry, JRCarter

I was hoping it was just a cruel April Fools’ hoax.

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Todd

Wow, that’s so sad.

I loved his appearance in Life Is Short (which Stephen Merchant also posted in memory of Kilmer):

Wink Martindale, the genial game-show host and an early TV interviewer of Elvis Presley, dies at 91

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Todd, njerry

The Pope has died.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/21/pope-francis-dies

As far as popes go, he seemed like a decent guy. It’s a shame JD Vance killed him.

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Ian Smith, Todd

RIP. Will be interesting to see who follows him up.

I bet it’s another Pope

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Martin Smith, Sean Robinson, Todd, njerry

Dave wrote:

I bet it’s another Pope

How awesome would it be if it was a capybayra instead?

More seriously, it’s a really big question. It does make a big difference to the world whether the Pope is a more progressive or regressive figure, and it’ll be interesting to see who comes out on top this time.

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Ian Smith, njerry, Dave, Todd

Either way, whoever got the streaming rights to Conclave is going to be delighted.

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Christian, Todd

Maybe I should finally watch The Two Popes. That looked like a good movie.

Christian wrote:

Maybe I should finally watch The Two Popes. That looked like a good movie.

Or this one?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pope_Must_Die

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Christian

I think I’ve seen it! (Not that I remember much about it…)

I hope the guests on Pope Idol will be better than last time

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Christian, Todd, Dave

Dave wrote:

Or this one?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pope_Must_Die%5B/quote%5D

My favorite memory of that movie, which was in cinemas around the same time as a documentary about the singer Madonna, was the marquee at a London theatre that advertised to two films being shown there:

THE POPE MUST DIE/
IN BED WITH MADONNA

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Martin Smith, Sean Robinson, Dave, Ben, Todd

lorcan_nagle wrote:

I hope the guests on Pope Idol will be better than last time

I’m going to be furious if the media don’t cover the new election process under the banner of Top Of The Popes.

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Christian, lorcan_nagle, Todd

It’s a shame Benedict died first. Having a spare Pope hanging around would have been handy in just this situation.

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Christian, Todd, lorcan_nagle, Dave

Dave wrote:

I bet it’s another Pope

Maybe they’ll pick one who’s Catholic this time.

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Todd

Arjan Dirkse wrote:

Dave wrote:

I bet it’s another Pope

Maybe they’ll pick one who’s Catholic this time.

I’m hoping for a bear that shits in the woods.

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Uncle Retrospective

I hope it will be Pizzaballa. Funny name aside, he’s a good man who cares a lot about the situation in Israel/Palestine. I think he’s officially the Latin Patriarch for the Holy Land, or some title like that. It would send an important message.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierbattista_Pizzaballa

In the betting game, the odds are currently for Pietro Parolin, so Italian. And the next highest rated is Luis Antonio Tagle, a Filipino.

Next Pope Best Odds Implied Probability
Pietro Parolin 15/8 35%
Luis Antonio Tagle 3/1 25%
Matteo Zuppi 7/1 13%
Peter Erdo 9/1 10%

The Pope Idol thing doesn’t seem such a far cry from this.

Erdo would be bad, he’s friendly with Orban and by extension probably Putin.

 

I listened to a podcast a while ago with Rob van Wijk, an academic who works for the strategic think tank Clingendael Institute, and he mentioned how the Vatican is a powerful force in international diplomacy. He thinks they have one of the best information networks in the world because they’re literally everywhere. If Erdo would become pope, he might steer those resources in the wrong direction.

Arjan Dirkse wrote:

Erdo would be bad, he’s friendly with Orban and by extension probably Putin.

Yikes. Zuppi, on the other hand, sounds good – he was a close advisor of Francis’ and seems to share his more liberal views, as well as a focus on relieving poverty.

Also, I like his smirk that he has in almost all photos of him.

https://www.omnesmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/mateo-zuppi.jpg

Arjan Dirkse wrote:

I listened to a podcast a while ago with Rob van Wijk, an academic who works for the strategic think tank Clingendael Institute, and he mentioned how the Vatican is a powerful force in international diplomacy. He thinks they have one of the best information networks in the world because they’re literally everywhere.

Interesting! And yeah, that makes a lot of sense.

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njerry

https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/steve-mcmichael-chicago-bears-obit/

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Todd, Dave