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Heard this a conference of priests and ministers many years ago. The question was how did the Cardinals manage to elect a non-Italian Pope after hundreds of years.
It seems the Cardinals didn't want to go through a big election just months after the short time of John Paul I. So they decided to create a committee to interview the three obvious-to-everybody finalists, an Irishman, an Italian, and a Pole. The committee opted to ask just one question of each candidate, "what is the meaning of Easter?"
The first candidate, the Irishman, said "Weel now, Easter is when you go into the cellar and bring up a bottle of fine Irish whisky, and give everyone a dram, and do it again and..."
"Thank you, your Eminence, we'll get back to you," said the committee chair. Then they asked the Italian Cardinal to come in and posed the same question to him:
"Atsa easy," came the reply. "Atsa when you gotta two collections instead of one and you getta lotsa money and..."
"We appreciate your thoughts, Cardinal," said the chair. "Leave your contact information with the secretary at reception."
Then entered the Polish candidate, who was asked the same question. His response:
"Easter is the central feast of Christianity. In fact, some say it is the central fact of human history. It begins on Ash Wednesday, when Catholics receive ashes on their foreheads to remind them of their mortality. It continues for 40 days of Lent, commemorating the 40 years the Jews wandered to reach the Holy Land, and Jesus's own 40 days in the desert. It culminates in Holy Week, beginning with Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, then on to Holy Thursday, where he sups with the apostles and predicts his death, continues on to Good Friday, where he is hung on the cross for three hours and dies. He is placed in a tomb and spends Friday night, Saturday and Saturday night there. On Sunday, the stone is rolled back from the tomb, and the risen Christ emerges into the sunlight of that first Easter morning.. And if he sees his shadow..."
It seems the Cardinals didn't want to go through a big election just months after the short time of John Paul I. So they decided to create a committee to interview the three obvious-to-everybody finalists, an Irishman, an Italian, and a Pole. The committee opted to ask just one question of each candidate, "what is the meaning of Easter?"
The first candidate, the Irishman, said "Weel now, Easter is when you go into the cellar and bring up a bottle of fine Irish whisky, and give everyone a dram, and do it again and..."
"Thank you, your Eminence, we'll get back to you," said the committee chair. Then they asked the Italian Cardinal to come in and posed the same question to him:
"Atsa easy," came the reply. "Atsa when you gotta two collections instead of one and you getta lotsa money and..."
"We appreciate your thoughts, Cardinal," said the chair. "Leave your contact information with the secretary at reception."
Then entered the Polish candidate, who was asked the same question. His response:
"Easter is the central feast of Christianity. In fact, some say it is the central fact of human history. It begins on Ash Wednesday, when Catholics receive ashes on their foreheads to remind them of their mortality. It continues for 40 days of Lent, commemorating the 40 years the Jews wandered to reach the Holy Land, and Jesus's own 40 days in the desert. It culminates in Holy Week, beginning with Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, then on to Holy Thursday, where he sups with the apostles and predicts his death, continues on to Good Friday, where he is hung on the cross for three hours and dies. He is placed in a tomb and spends Friday night, Saturday and Saturday night there. On Sunday, the stone is rolled back from the tomb, and the risen Christ emerges into the sunlight of that first Easter morning.. And if he sees his shadow..."
