Pope given last rites

VATICAN CITY (CNN) -- Pope John Paul II's condition remained "serious" early Friday, but he appeared to be responding well to antibiotic treatment for a urinary tract infection that caused him to develop a fever, a Vatican official said.

Thursday night, as his health deteriorated, the pontiff was given the last rites of the Roman Catholic Church, a Vatican source told CNN.

The sacrament does not necessarily mean that the pope is dying. Last rites -- also known as the sacrament of the sick or extreme unction -- are commonly given to people who are seriously ill as well.
link: http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/03/31/pope1/index.html

And it's near impossible for me to separate the two as I know many ex-Catholics (gay and straight) who live lives of undeserved misery because of it.

I was invited to a private reception at the Organization of American States in Washington, D.C. A gay fallen-away Catholic even then, I went because the Pope is famous and the OAS food is always food. Live parrots in the atrium. So I accompanied somebody famous and met John Paul II.

He glowed like no celebrity I have ever seen. In person, he had then a zillion-watt star-quality that humbled me. Me! Gay-cynical to the core.

Well, I didn't return to the Church, obviously, but when I met him I was jolted into acknowledging I was in the presence of something and someone far bigger than myself. That spark from him lead me to buddha, my friend far more than my "god."

Thanks for sharing your personal experience.

than any othe CARDINAL seated at the next conclave. This Pope really loved humanity. He loved his Catholic precepts too and that made many of us UNHAPPY. In his trip to Cuba in 1998 he embraced Fidel Castro as he would embrace a human being, although he disagred with Fidel's policies and politics and communist philosophy...and I do believe he really loved human beings. I am not sure that any of the CARDINALS who will be seated at the next CONCLAVE will equal him in his love for humanity--but maybe the heavens have a GOOD surprise for us down the road.

(and again thank you for sharing your beautiful experience in meeting the POPE).