On a tour of Wisconsin, the Pope took a couple of days off
his itinerary to
visit the beautiful Indian-head area near Minnesota on an
impromptu
sightseeing trip. His 4X4 Popemobile was driving along the
beautiful
shorelines and crashing surf of the St Croix River when
there was an
enormous commotion heard just off the headland. They
rushed to see
what it was and upon approaching the scene the Pope
noticed just outside the
surf, a hapless man wearing a Viking football
jersey, struggling frantically
to free himself from the jaws of a twelve-foot sturgeon!
At that moment a speedboat containing three men wearing
> Packer
football tops roared into view from around the
point. Spontaneously, one of the
men took aim and fired a harpoon into the sturgeon's
ribs, immobilizing it instantly.
The other two reached out and pulled the Minnesota fan from
the water and then, using long clubs, beat the sturgeon
to death. They bundled the
bleeding, semi conscious man in a blanket an pulled him
into the
speedboat along with the dead sturgeon and then prepared for
a hasty retreat,
when they heard frantic shouting from the shore. It was
of course the
Pope, and he summoned them to the beach. Upon them
reaching the shore the Pope
went into raptures about the rescue and said, "I give you my blessing for
your brave actions. I had heard that there was some
bitter hatred
between the people of Minnesota and Wisconsin, but,
now I have seen with my own
eyes this is not true. I can see that your society is a
truly enlightened
example of true harmony and could serve as a model on
which other states
could follow. "He blessed them all and drove off in a
cloud of dust.
As he departed, the harpoonman asked the others, "Who was
that?"
"That, one answered, "was his Holiness the Pope." He
is in direct contact with
God and has access to all God's wisdom."
"Well," the harpoon-man replied, "he knows nothing about
sturgeon
hunting.... How's that bait holding up - do we need to
get
another one?"
