the lowry

After a long, painful period in intensive care battling serious illness in hospital, Pope Francis, although frail, turns up at St Peter’s Square on Easter Sunday to  bless the faithful, take a trip in his Pope mobile to meet some of them and pays visits to some prisoners and homeless.

Then, on Easter Monday, he leaves this earth to his new address.

Thus ends one of the most remarkable papacies in history.

Pope Francis brought an air of simplicity to the office of pontiff.

Oh, make no mistake, he was a deep-thinking man, which was borne out by the spiritual advice he dispensed though his daily tweets to help vulnerable people like me on their journey.

But what I mean is he preferred to downplay a lot of the trappings that go with that high office and embrace poverty just like the saint he was named after – St Francis – and reach out to the poor and needy and those who had fallen by the wayside.

My own son Frank, who is a priest, cherishes one moment in particular.

Offload their troubles

During his papacy, Pope Francis decreed a Year of Mercy and it gave Frank and his friends an idea!

With the permission of Bishop John of Salford, they hired a double decker bus and drove it to public places like shopping centres and supermarket car parks around Lancashire where they parked up.

It was called the Mercy Bus and inside it he and a few of his fellow priests would warmly welcome anyone that wanted to offload their troubles, seek advice and even go to confession.

The thinking behind it was that in these present times some folks are reluctant to step inside a church and this was a way of making it accessible to help them realise that perhaps there really was a Divine Power out there that could help them.

When the Vatican heard of it, Frank was invited over to Rome and actually had a photograph taken with himself and Pope Francis holding up a photograph of the Mercy Bus.

So, you see readers, miracles do happen!

Opportune moment

Now as I write this, history is being made with the election of the first American Pope – Pope Leo.

Born on the south side of Chicago, he took his Papal name from an Italian Pope who in 1891 wrote an encyclical on workers’ rights during the industrial revolution.

He’s come at an opportune moment with artificial intelligence heralding in another industrial revolution in 2025.

I’d like to finish on a light-hearted story about a chap that goes to have a haircut and says to the barber: “I want you to give me a good haircut, because I’m going to Rome next week to meet the Pope.”

The barber says to him: “You’ll never get near the Pope!”

Then the barber proceeds to cut this customer’s hair, all the while chiding him about his chances of meeting the Pontiff.

Terrible haircut!

A few months pass by and the customer goes back to the barber’s shop and the barber is gobsmacked to hear that he actually did get to meet the Pope.

“What did the Pope say?” asked the barber.

The customer looked at him wryly and answered: “Well, he said to me who gave you that terrible haircut!”

I’d like to give you a heads-up, readers, about my 80th Birthday Show, which takes place at the Quays Theatre at The Lowry in Salford on Saturday 1 November.

I’ll be joined by an all-star cast of fellow comedians and all the money raised on the night will go to Francis House Children’s Hospice in Didsbury.

If you’d like to come along and help me blow the candles out, you can book here.

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