Bono, the Pope and the Fly

ABC article: The Pope's relationship to Bono and pop culture

From Undercover and the @U2 mailing list
Undercover
3rd April 2005



Bono Pays Tribute To The Pope

by Paul Cashmere

U2 front man Bono has paid tribute to the Catholic Church's front man Pope John Paul II calling him "a great man".

"The best front man the Catholic Church ever had" Bono said in a statement. "A great show man, a great communicator of ideas even if you didn't agree with all of them, a great friend to the world's poor which is how I got to meet him. Without John Paul II its hard to imagine the Drop the Debt campaign succeeding as it did."

Pope John Paul II died in Rome on Saturday at the age of 84.

He become Pope in 1978 following the death of his predecessor Pope John Paul I who held office for just 33 days. Conspiracy theories state John Paul I was murdered because he was about to unveil a scandal. The conspiracy theory has never been proven.

Bono met the Pope in 2000 following the U2 singer's work on the Jubilee project to eliminate third world debt. Bono gave the Pope his trademark Fly shades at the meeting and the Pope put them on.


The U2 Vertigo tour began in San Diego last Monday.

(c) Undercover 2005

The following photo comes from http://U2log.com and was taken at the Harvard economic conference which suggests it may actually be genuine, though I wonder at the other "glasses-wearers" in the background...?.