Two Popes were canonized as saints on the same day, a historic unprecedented first. One Black was elected U.S. president … twice. Double trouble for pawns and peasants. François-André Philidor, the greatest chess player of the 18th century, called pawns “the soul of chess.” Pawns represent expendable soldiers designed to be sacrificed for greater gain. Having more pawns than the opponent, assuming non-pawn material is even, is extremely important in the endgame. Many games of chess boil down to endings where one side has just a single pawn more than the other, and all action centers around the attempt to advance the pawn, one step at a time, one forward direction at a time – the prototype of incrementalism that promotes pawns to either Queen, Rook, Bishop, or Knight.



In the chess game of politics, Obama is castled, protected by two main pawns – Attorney General Eric Holder, who will in no way investigate his King for the many scandals plaguing the royalty, and the now replaced Kathleen Sebelius, the pawn protecting Obama from his own ObamaCare. Obama pawns that fell as service to King Obama include Sec. of State Hillary Clinton and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. Obama is notorious for packing the chess board with more than the allotted eight pawns, taking them out of the purview of Congress and the overpowered pawns and peasants. When one is captured, two more magically appear.



Coelho Theory states, “Everything that happens once can never happen again. But everything that happens twice will surely happen a third time.” That theory seems to define the sainthood of the last two deceased popes as saints to be venerated.



Two beloved popes, two sainted on the same day in the same ceremony, two similar black marks staining their papacy, each with a major mark against him. Pope John XXIII is notable for Vatican Council II that attempted to modernize the church but caused confusion and consternation that led many to leave the church due to the New Mass in many languages, replacing Latin, and modern liturgical reforms that many deemed to be heretical.



John Paul II was perhaps the most charismatic and popular pope ever, but his waterloo was the unraveling of the clergy pedophile scandals that cost the U.S. church 40% of its membership, costing over $1 billion, over and above insurance company settlements, with related loss of financial support and contributions that caused closure of churches, schools, hospitals and social services.



Pope Benedict rushed to canonize John Paul II by waiving the five-year waiting period, and the bandwagon overflowed with chants of “John Paul the Great.” Benedict later resigned, a rare occurrence that had not happened for 600 years. Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergogliois is the mystery in that this process elected a Jesuit to succeed Benedict, but one role of Jesuits is protection for the pope on dogma involving faith and morals. Does that scenario constitute a conflict to interest for Jesuits?



To induct the pair into sainthood on the same day in the same service is baffling to say the least. Two living popes are residing in the Vatican at the same time while two dead popes with similar marks of division in the church were canonized as saints on the same day? One dignitary hoped that one need not be pope to be declared a saint. Francis was quick to decline the rush to judgment, saying, “Who am I to judge?” but by the same token, was quick to rush to give ultimate honors and praise to controversial popes he was sainting.



Has it come to this, a Jesuit pope having no reservations about this double pope-sainting charade that had no critical need or time limit? Gaining the eternal brass ring is the culmination of the real purpose of life, but was there not a Devil’s advocate to put the brakes on this sainting process that did not have to be done?



Anyone watching TV is at one time or another subjected to advertising for too often with useless, worthless products offered at bargain prices. But wait! Buy one now and get one free (BOGO); just pay extra shipping and handling. So now there are two living popes and on the same day, two sainted popes, and two living popes, hopefully not double jeopardy.



Declaring sainthood for John XXIII and John Paul II, though dramatic theatre, was not an urgent necessity as there persists the unfinished business of purging the church of perpetrators and enablers of the lingering clergy scandals. Window dressing is usually done after major repairs and reconstruction have been completed, but Pope Francis has not yet faced problems of abuses perpetrated by his own Jesuit community that specializes in higher education that leads the young into the error of the equality of all or no religions.



Twenty-two of twenty-five Jesuit universities in America are no longer considered to be catholic as they impart a secularism that partners with Planned Parenthood, accepts open homosexuality and promotes disgusting sexual plays like “The Vagina Monologues.”



Francis can only prove himself to be worthy of the papacy if he has the fortitude to do as Jesus did as He entered the Temple, whip in hand, to drive out the money changers. Parents of students wrongly perceive Jesuit universities as bulwarks that protect and guide their children in Christianity.



Francis has wrongly endeared himself to many believers and non-believers alike with his infamous comment, “Who am I to judge?” That directly contravenes the command given by Jesus, “Whomsoever sins you forgive they are forgiven, and whomsoever sins you retain, they are retained.” That command demands judgment, else how will clergy know to grant forgiveness or not.



Naysayers quote the Bible, “Do not judge,” but on the other hand judgment discerns right from wrong, and that is in the Bible. The Bible also tells that one should tell a brother of wrongs, but if the brother refuses admonition, bring two others to influence and judge as well.



Francis also wrongly stated, “An atheist with good conscience can get to Heaven.” What happened to the saying of Jesus, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life…No one knows the Son, but the Father: neither does anyone know the Father, but the Son, and he to whom it shall please the Son to reveal him.”? How does an “Atheist” getting to Heaven without Jesus comport with Jesus’ caveat? Francis claims Atheists can go to Heaven but Jesus said, “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”



On one occasion, Jesus said, “Let the dead bury their dead,” and so it might have applied in the dual sainthood coronation that should have been deferred until the house of Jesus is purged of rot and decay, rebuilt, reinforced, and restored to its original beauty before placing crown jewels of two popular popes of near rock star notoriety on display for all to admire, emulate, to maintain and increase faith. The fallen away living need attention that can only be gotten from “The ordinary doing the extraordinary.”



Mother Teresa fits that dictum perfectly as she voluntarily left a relative life of ease and comfort to dedicate herself to working among the suffering and poverty in the slums of Calcutta where she worked among the poorest of the poor. Mother Theresa died in 1997 but popes received accolades of sainthood while Mother Theresa did the down and dirty work, unlike Pope Francis, for all to witness, who washed the feet of twelve elderly and disabled people on Holy Thursday.



Mother Theresa did the washing of the unwanted every day, salvaging souls and bodies covered with dirt, filth, lice and worse. Precious few saw, noticed, cared, or helped, but Mother persisted until her worn out body gave up the spirit.



That is the stuff saints are made of, not those who live in palatial splendor receiving glory and praise in this lifetime and expect the continuation of the same exultation in the next lifetime. Jesus promised rewards based on those like Mother Theresa, “Whatever you did for one of these least of my brethren, you did for me.”



Saints, loosely defined, are those achieving the reward of Heaven after life on earth. All saved children in Heaven are considered to be the saints of God who created all and loves all His children, but gifts imparted are varied as the entirety of the human creation. Popes are expected to do right, and as successors of the Twelve Apostles and original disciples, they are commanded to spread the Word of Jesus who gave the ultimate command, “Go and teach all nations.”



Popes, like all humans, are not without sin, faults, frailty, or feet of clay, and Papal infallibility is an often misunderstood dogma of the Catholic Church, which states in virtue of the promise of protection by the Holy Spirit that Jesus promised to Peter, the Pope is preserved from the possibility of error “When, in the exercise of his duty as shepherd and teacher of all Christians, in virtue of his supreme apostolic authority, he defines a doctrine concerning faith or morals to be held by the whole Church.” Other than that distinction, Popes are as fallible and subject to error and human weakness and failings as is the rest of humanity.



The original problem remains unresolved as to WHY two controversial dead popes were canonized as saints on the same day, and why there are two living popes in the Vatican. How does the concept of two living popes and two dead sainted popes, deuces wild, prove the Coleho Theory, which holds that everything that happens once can never happen again? Coleho certainly applies only to Jesus Christ, His Life, Death, and Resurrection, as Jesus promised that once death was overcome, there would never again be permanent death but life would go on forever.



Coleho Theory holds that everything that happens once can never happen again, certainly applying only to Jesus Christ, His Life, Death and Resurrection, as Jesus promised that once death was overcome, there would never again be permanent death but life would go on forever.



Everything that happens twice will surely happen a third time, a bad omen for America as Obama targets the basketball version of the triple double. Obama has already channeled two Presidents: Abraham Lincoln in his disregard for the Constitution, and Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR), who declared a national crisis, calling for his reelection, and not to change horses in midstream as he lured America into WWII and a third and fourth term for FDR.



Not out of the question is a third term for the unwelcome stranger in our midst, with or without an election, just as in Third World countries, and just as FDR accomplished the feat. Could Coleho Theory be an omen on what is to come – Obama, President for life – until there are no more crises?


Candidate Bill Clinton ran for President with one of the slogans being, “Two for one, Bill and Hillary,” and with his election, Hillary focused on National Health Care, which proved not quite ready for prime time. But Obama, with push by Speaker Pelosi and Senate Leader Reid, broke the barrier, probably unfortunate for them as well as the country.



The point of this digression is to show that if the church cannot get it right, how can the government and its cast of chess characters get it right?