JPII

Today, the funeral of Pope John Paul II will be held. President Khatami, after visiting France and Austria is going to attend the ceremony.

Now that I think, I can't think of any thoughts about pope. He has always meant a very old man with a different religion to me and of course a Polish which has been interesting to me. But in recent years whenever I have seen him on TV I have felt that how could this old man make decisions in difficult situations? I have always felt that he is under the influence of mysterious Vatican figures which are now going to select the new pope. And Vatican, the smallest country in the world has always fascinated me. I surely will visit Italy soon and Vatican will be one of the places that I certainly want to see.

And about Khatami and his attendance to the funeral, I can imagine him saying "Fatiha"* under his lips in Vatican for the late pope. It is an irony that how these differences in religions and traditions seem meaningless in these situations. However before that, he will have to deal with the fact that he might be sitting next to the president of Israel in Vatican because of the first letter of their names and he has also to avoid coming face to face with Bush. Stupid politics really! For once, for God sake, leave politics out of this!

*Fatiha is a special name for two particular "sura"s of Koran which are usually whispered by those who attend a funeral for blessing of the one who has passed away.