Il Papa Don't Preach? They're sayin now that the Pope is in pretty bad shape, or "in a very bad way," as someone who shouldn't give press conferences in English said. Pray for the Pope, everybody is saying. But what hope is there for all of us if the Pope needs our help? Surely his prayers must carry a lot more weight than everyone else's. He is the Pope after all. It feels kinda like donating money to help out Bill Gates. Pray for him anyway, but if I were Pope I'd just pray for myself. And the kids.