DEAD POPE HIT WITH MAXWELL’S SILVER HAMMER

Did you know: Certain rites and rituals follow the death of a Pope, including this weird one: tapping his forehead with a silver hammer. In the chain of command at the Vatican, there is a position called the camerlengo. A camerlengo is a cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church who serves as the temporary administrator of the Vatican during a period when there is no Pope. When a pope dies, it is the camerlengo’s duty to perform the rite, administering three gentle taps on the pope’s forehead and calling him by his first name. It’s the traditional way of making sure a pope has died.
* What’s ironic is, it’s also the way they wake up the older popes in the morning: (bonk bonk) “Hey, you up? (bonk bonk) Breakfast!”
* A silver hammer because sticking smelling salts under the pope’s nose isn’t pompous enough.
* It’s important to be on good terms with your camerlengo when you’re pope, as long as he’s got that hammer in his pocket.
* Can the Vatican not afford a simple heart or respiratory monitor? Are they like the Amish – afraid of new technology?
* How did this not make it into any of the DaVinci Code movies?