Flying back to Bologna, after a week in Ireland, the day before Pope John Paul II’s funeral, I expected to be packed tight alongside pilgrims en-route to the Eternal City.

I was, and I wasn’t. That there were pilgrims on-board is certain. That there were unoccupied seats around me is also a fact. I overheard conversations between an Italian and Irish couple, both of which had decided on the spur of the moment to fly in to attend the funeral. At the same time, when they presumed that a nearby couple had similar intentions of going to the funeral they were disapointed. The young couple, with what I may have immagined to have been a slight hint of disdain, responded “no, we’re going to Firenze”.

It’s hard to make sense of Karol Wojtyla’s death. The public response has been beyond all expectations, or perhaps has been the fulfillment of years of expectation?* How much has the extraordinary arrival of millions of the faithful been provoked by the extraordinary media coverage?

The huge congregation of people in Rome gives the impression that there has seldom been a more popular Pope, and that the Church is in stridently good health. This will, strangely it may seem, give a certain moral boost to the current Italian Government that faces a politically embarassing referendum on its controversial assisted procreation legislation. Having suffered massive defeats in the recent regional elections, a defeat in this referendum would be another bitter blow for Silvio Berlusconi’s Government.

That so many people have turned out for this Pope’s funeral may give succour to those who hope the law will remain in its current form, which, while allowing for assisted procreation, adheres in its restrictions closely to current Catholic teaching.Wojtyla’s 1960 study Love and Responsibility, it should be remembered, was inspirational to Paul VI in his writing of the infamous encyclical Humanae Vitae, which dismissed the findings of the papally appointed Commission on Population and Birth Control. The rigid line on contraception and sexuality adopted, against the advice of the commission of experts after much study (including both cardinals and lay people), by Paul VI has been largely followed by John Paul II, as it would have to be due to the quaint terms of papal infallibility.

The large turnout though does not necessarily mean support for the Pope’s policies. Just as there were millions in Rome to pay their respects to the Pontiff, there were millions of reasons for doing so. Many came to pay their respects to a man who played a large part in the downfall of communism (Berlusconi included no-doubt); some came to pay respect to a man who had suffered visibly and bravely for years; many came, surely, out of Catholic conviction; and some came, to live in the moment. I almost fell in to this category, thinking it would be special to see. Years of indoctrination by the “I know where I was when JFK was shot” generation have led us to jump on every epoch-changing possibility, as demonstrated by the long line of people streaming by the Pontiff’s preserved body more intent on snapping a photo to prove they were there than making the sign of the Cross> Blasphemous though it may seem, it reminded me of passing by Ho Chi Minh’s corpse in Hanoi. An encounter with someone from history, though in his mausoleum one couldn’t snap photos due to decorum and armed guards.

According to figures released by the Church last year, John Paul II’s church has grown slightly, primarily in Latin America, while having lost numbers in Europe. These figures however are based on baptisms** worldwide, which are involuntary for the most part. An interesting accounting technique but hardly a credible source for assessing how many people worldwide agree with the conservative outlook proposed by Karol Wojtyla’s pontificate.

None of this should really matter. Catholics are entitled to their point of view, and are entitled to mourn their much respected leader (although whether his funeral needed to be broadcast on all 7 Italian national channels is open to discussion). The key worry for non-catholics/ex-catholics in countries like Italy, Ireland, and Spain, or indeed Poland, where all too often it’s presumed that one is Catholic, is the pressure to integrate Catholic moral teaching into legislation. The appearance that the Church has more practicing members than it really has helps in the promulgation of legislation that limits the freedoms of others. In Italy the figures have another interesting effect in that a certain % of tax is channeled to the Catholic Church based on figures calculated from birth certs.

This secular Monkey is getting the invitations ready for his official de-baptism. How does one go about celebrating leaving an organisation that you never wittingly joined?

*In 2003 The Guardian was reporting that up to 6,000 journalists were expected to descend upon the Vatican in the case of the Pope’s health failing, with the possibility (realised eventually) of the first papal death to be transmitted live. Indeed, in the late ’90s, most news organisations would readily admit to having pre-prepared obituaries for the Polish Pontiff.

**An Italian organisation, the UAAR, arguing for a secular society encourages its members to officially apply to the Church for a de-baptism, forcing Church authorities to remove them from any statistics issued.