The Pope's Red Shoes

I could not believe it. This morning, on the news, there it was. The announcement that the Pope would no longer wear red shoes, once he is officially no longer the ruling Pontiff. Really ? My God, what are we to do? Does any one care about this insignificant detail at all? Apparently, Pope Benedict XVI has his own shoe designer. Wonderful. Millions of poor Catholics walk around not owning a single pair of shoes, and the leader of the Catholic Church has his own shoe designer. WOW. Talk about being in touch with the realities of life out there. I could not believe a whole article on Papal shoes and slippers. Apparently the only Pope who in recent history got tired of all that outdated nonsense was Pope John Paul II who soon after becoming Pontiff changed to wearing ordinary brown shoes. I knew there were more than a couple of reasons I liked him. How can any one be surprised that the Catholic Church has to worry about dwindling congregations in a large part of the world, when time is wasted on  such ridiculous nonsense as the color of the Pope's shoes? I was born and raised a Catholic, but really, a bit of updating might be in order! I think Christ walked around in  sandals, and I don't think he cared what color they were. The planet is coming apart at the seams, it might be a nice morale and faith boost if Catholic people felt that the person they looked to for inspiration and moral strength actually acted like he belonged righteously in the 21st century. Let's hope the next elected Pontiff will opt for simple brown shoes. It might make us feel that would be a solid precursor to a good alignment on priorities in general.