Response To Christian Today's writeup of the Pope's Funeral

As mentioned in the previous entry Anna Lisa wrote "Pope John Paul's plain coffin reflected the unpretentious life-style he had led during his 26 year papacy".

What kind of reflection on his papacy, and the Catholic church in general, is the fact that the coffin he was actually laid to rest in was far more ostentatious than the "plain coffin" he was put on show in outside St. Peter's Basillica?

And how does the fact that "John Paul's wishes were stated in his will on March 13, 1992, that he wished to be buried in bare earth" sit with the fact that he was buried in a zinc lined coffin, beneath a stone slab, inside one of the most opulent buildings ever constructed by man. Seems like his wish to be buried in "bare earth" was merely a rhetorical device designed to evoke images of humility, rather than something that could actually be tolerated by the institution that is the Catholic church.

In death, as in life, hypocrisy reigns supreme.