http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-21411304

Ratzinger says he is off to spend more time with his Nazi memorabilia.

Good riddance to the hideous old bigot, but I thought he had to wait until he joined the choir invisible?

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I'm a nasty, violent lefty. You cunt.

Maybe he once asked a Cardinal to take points for him.

I thought that too.

I'm hoping he comes out with a statement like "After some thought, I came to the conclusion that I've wasted my life. This religion lark is a load of old bollocks, so I therefore urge everyone to chill out and enjoy life. Feel free to use condoms and enjoy sex, regardless if your partner is male or female. It's all cool. One love, brothers and sisters!"

Unlikely, I know, but you can dream. I'm sort of picturing him as that Bishop from Father Ted that lost his faith after a chat with Dougal.

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Pointless thoughts can be read at http://www.thetediousworld.blogspot.co.uk/

There has to be more to this than meets the eye. He's only the second one in history to do this (the other one was in 1415).

If he survived his instrumental role in covering up industrial-scale child rape, enslavement of innocent women for decades in Ireland, and funding anti-birth control campaigns in Africa (not to mention the dead teenage girl at the Vatican that nobody seems to have investigated), what the hell have they got on him? Is he actually Hitler in disguise?

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Soppy anti-British, pro-crime, anti-education, pro-immigration, anti-family nonentity

Driven out by a liberal elite conspiracy?

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You may say I'm a dreamer.... but I'm not the only one....

He probably heard how good our unemployment benefits are, so he's on his way here to become a 'shirker'

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Soppy anti-British, pro-crime, anti-education, pro-immigration, anti-family nonentity

Anybody else wonder what the job of Pope pays? I did. It's, as you would expect, hedged about with mystery, but it's a decent whack :

http://opentabernacle.wordpress.com/2011/05/08/popes-personal-income-200-million-annually/

I's like to see Brian Blessed in as replacement. About time we had a big shouty beardy Pope.

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I'm a nasty, violent lefty. You cunt.

I can think of a ready-made replacement.

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Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle.

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I'm a nasty, violent lefty. You cunt.

The fact that he has Parkinson's perhaps?

Edit: whoops, I misheard that was John Paul George and Ringo II

This one's just too old and frail apparently. Well he is 85.

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That subtle admixture of the absurd and the surreally plausible...

Amazing.

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Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle.

I didn't know that. Clearly, his boss doesn't think he's doing a good enough job.

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Pointless thoughts can be read at http://www.thetediousworld.blogspot.co.uk/

Well, hopefully he won't do a 'George Carey' and occupy his time by writing bilious, reactionary shite for right-wing papers.

If that $200m a year figure is accurate, he will be more likely to be found on the waterfront at Monaco, snorting coke off a hooker's tits, on the bonnet of his Ferrari.

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Soppy anti-British, pro-crime, anti-education, pro-immigration, anti-family nonentity

Sorry that was my mistake, I was only half listening to the radio and misheard. It was the previous one who had Parkinson's.

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That subtle admixture of the absurd and the surreally plausible...

I kind of miss old JP2. His days as a goalkeeper meant you could bring out the "good with crosses" joke every now and again.

Behind Camus in the "Top Historical Goalies" stakes, though. And I think Arthur Conan Doyle did some time between the sticks for Portsmouth...

I digress, sorry.

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Pointless thoughts can be read at http://www.thetediousworld.blogspot.co.uk/