Saturday, April 09, 2005
FIVE FUNERALS AND FIVE CONCLAVES
I've lived through the death of Pius XII (Oct. 9, 1958), John XXIII (June 3, 1963), Paul VI (Aug. 6, 1978) and John Paul I (Sept. 28, 1978). Never do I remember the media event we have witnessed this past week, the past funerals were far less of a media spectacle.
Of course we have satellite coverage now. In 1978 that was not yet possible. Then too, on August 6, 1978, I had a new baby less than a month old, and my attention was not exactly focused on media events. Sept. 28 is my husband's birthday, and I remember the birthday of 1978. His parents had come for dinner. Just as we sat down to eat, our new baby decided to announce to the world and outer space that she was not happy. There was no quieting her no matter what I did. Her grandmother took over but had no more luck than I had. Neither of us could figure out what was wrong. About the time dinner was stone cold she stopped crying and went to sleep, and by that time no one was very hungry any longer.
That birthday dinner took place around 5-6 p.m. Ohio time, which was 11-12 p.m. Rome time, and just about the time that John Paul I died. It's odd to remember it that way.
In any event, does anyone else remember what they were doing when John Paul I died, and what the media coverage was like then?
