Stuff like this is the reason I remain a skeptic:
This fiery figure is being hailed as Pope John Paul II making an appearance beyond the grave.
The image, said by believers to show the Holy Father with his right hand raised in blessing, was spotted during a ceremony in Poland to mark the second anniversary of his death.
Details appeared on the Vatican News Service, a TV station in Rome which specialises in religious news broadcasts.
Service director Jarek Cielecki, a Polish priest and close friend of John Paul II, travelled to Poland after hearing an onlooker had photographed the image.
Father Cielecki said he was convinced the picture showed the former pontiff.
“You can see the image of a person in the flames and I think it is the servant of God, Pope John Paul II,” he said.
The pictures were being broadcast continuously on Italian TV and also posted on religious websites, some of which crashed as thousands logged on to see for themselves the eerie figure formed by the flames.
Three years ago, it was the Virgin Mary on a grilled cheese sandwich. Now, it’s the former Pope in a bonfire. Sorry, but I don’t think the universe works that way.
Here’s a picture of the fire in question, alongside a photo of John Paul II said to bear a “striking resemblence”
Don’t see it ? Neither do I.
October 16th, 2007 at 10:24 pm
I’m not sure if it is really a good reason to be a skeptic, but one does have to think that some people are trying to hard to find symbols where they do not need to. As an evangelical myself, I find it a little worrisome that people do this; things like this almost become idols (sorry, but it does seem like Catholics are more drawn to this sort of thing than protestants).
October 16th, 2007 at 10:26 pm
Now, now let’s not get drawn into a debate about the relative rationality of different versions of Christianity here.
Compared to stuff like this, which is rarely, if ever, actually sanctioned by Rome, I could cite countless examples of Evangelicals and Pentacostals who believe even wackier things……like the Fred Flintstone theory of human development.