I know some priests smoke and drink and even break their vow of celibacy. But shouldn’t the pope be held to a higher standard? Legend has it that he is infallible.
Let’s apply a logic syllogism that I learned at my Catholic university: A = B and B = C; therefore A = C. In word form: If the pope smokes, and the pope makes no mistakes, then smoking is not a mistake.
According the the blog, guanabe.com, the pope even lies about smoking–with Vatican officials backing him up. Wandering off to pray, indeed. My mom would have seen through that lie instantly.
I understand nuns picking up the habit. Bah, dum dum. But where did the pope pick up this dirty habit? In the Hitler Youth, when he was Joe Ratzinger?
The pope has a heart condition and has had at least one stroke. He is the oldest person to rise to the papacy since Clement II in 1730, but his reign may be shortened due to the coffin nails he puffs on.
With implicit papal blessing, Europeans go on resisting the smoking bans that are slowly infiltrating the continent. Particularly resistant are the Austrians, according to today’s Wall Street Journal. Forty-one per cent of Austrians smoke daily compared to 19% of Americans. Austria’s former health minister, Andrea Kdolsky, is quoted in the article:

“Smokers are old enough to decide on their own,” she said in an interview last year.

Opinion polls showed that most Austrians were against a full-blown smoking ban, says Ms. Kdolsky. She dismisses claims about the dangers of secondhand smoke. “No international study tells you that sitting in a restaurant for two hours as a passive smoker brings you harm,” she says.

America’s new leader might sneak a puff or two. But he has never claimed to be perfect.