The Great April Fools Joke of 2005

THE GREAT APRIL FOOLS JOKE OF 2005

First off, my sincere sympathies and condolences go out to all the people I know on the loss of your spiritual leader, Pope John Paul ll. I realize the last few days must have been hard on you as you and the rest of the world waited for the inevitable to happen.
As someone who has interest in watching history happen, I, too, was glued to the television, watching the proceedings. Even though I am not Catholic, I remember where I was when the Cardinals chose a new Pope back in 1978. I was stacking wood in the backyard when my mother hollered out the door that a new Pope had been chosen. I ran into the house and remember when it was announced, a reporter saying, in effect, " You can hear the people gasping in shock- He's not Italian!".

Fast forward to last Friday. Word had come down that the Pope's health had deteriorated quite rapidly.
Speculation was that death was imminent.
Around noon, there was to be a special Mass for the Pope, and Vatican TV was showing an ornament or cross of some sort, and one of the analysts on CNN was visibly upset, saying an important announcement must be coming. The Mass was then held. I jumped around the dial quite a bit, even landing on the Eternal World Television Network(EWTN)- the Catholic Channel, to see how they were covering it.
After the Mass was over, I, more or less, stayed with CNN. Shortly after 1:30, a reporter in Rome was interrupted by one of the anchors. "CNN has just learned that according to Reuters and the Italian Press, Pope John Paul the 2nd has died." They then went to another reporter who stated that Reuters was the one who said that Yassir Arafat had died- two days before he actually did.
I checked FOX News and they said the same thing. I then went to EWTN and they were showing some footage of the Pope, when suddenly they broke in with a Special Report.
The anchor was very solemn, then announced " We regret to announce that the Holy Father, John Paul ll, has died."

Wow. What a sad moment. I felt sad even though I am not Catholic. But I figured- if they announced it, it must be true.
I switched back to CNN. They were trying to independently confirm it. FOX News-ditto. ETWN- they were showing quotes that the Pope had made with a ticker at the bottom repeating what the anchor said.
I'm thinking, well it must be true. If the Catholic Network says the Pope is dead, then he's dead. It's like having Doctor McCoy look at Captain Kirk and saying "He's dead, Jim."

You can't get anymore official than that.

Called my sister at work. Told her the news.
Checked CNN. "There is now conflicting reports about the translation of the Italian Press release."
Something about EEG instead of EKG.
Checked EWTN. EWTN Special Report! "We now have conflicting reports on the condition of the Holy Father. FOX News is saying the translation...."
BUT YOU GUYS SAID......!!
The Vatican then comes flying out to say the Pope is still alive but conditions are deteriorating.

Sigh.
And of course you realize it IS April 1st.
Pope John Paul the 2nd has died.
APRIL FOOLS!!!! Ha ha, had you going.

When it did happen, it caught me by surprise. I was watching the NASCAR race that was under a rain delay on FOX44 when they went to FOX News for a Special Report. There was the headline-"AP:Pope John Paul ll Has Died".
Switch to CNN. Yup, it's official. EWTN- it's for real this time.
On Sunday I bought my Boston Globe as usual. I also grabbed a New York Times. I will save the front pages and the special sections and take them up to the museum to add to our collection.

To anyone who may have found my take on the whole situation to be offensive, I apologize. That was not my intent. From the outside looking in, I, too, was led to believe something historic had happened, only to find out it wasn't true. I simply found it ironic that it happened on April Fools Day.

http://www.vatican.va/phome_en.htm

Mike Cain