The Pope must Die Wales victory casts pale over pontiff
Published: 15/02/09
Source: ©The Cup is Coming Home
By Moodiesan
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February 15 2009 The odds of Pope Benedict XVI dying before year-end shot up yesterday after Wales defeated England in a hard-fought Six Nations contest in Cardiff.
The victory puts Wales on course for a Grand Slam, which according to a recent report in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), historically coincides with the death of a pope. [Click here for the full article.]
The only exception, it said, was 1978, a year when Wales had a very, very good team indeed, winning the Grand Slam and when two popes died.
Of the eight pontiffs who have died since 1883, five of them died in a Grand Slam year. In addition, the deaths of Benedict XV, in 1922 and Pius XI, in 1939, coincided with Wales winning the tournament, though not the Grand Slam.
While all Roman Catholics will be steadfastly hoping that one of the remaining teams Italy, France or Ireland can upset the Welsh and prevent another papal death, the chances of vexation in the Vatican remain high, according to the BMJ.
Our model for the general theory of papal rugby predicts that 0.62 (about three-fifths) of a pope will die this year, its study said.
But taciturn Welsh coach Warren Gatland was having none of it. It sounds like a whole load of Papal bull to me, he commented without added pontification.
