Dear Liz Smith reports today:

“THE NEW pope, Benedict XVI, is getting a reputation for slightly eccentric behavior. He likes to disguise himself as a simple priest and go out at night back to his former apartments in a little zone tucked behind St. Peter’s Square. He often goes to his old room and stays there for hours.”

Now, maybe this is just me, but doesn’t that sound like the premise for an opera comique?

Pierette and her confidante Marthe are unaware that the simple
Pere Michel is none other than Pope Benedict XVI! A delicious trio of comic
intrigue ensues. The chiming of churchbells signals the arrival of a band of
gypsies, who dance an infectious if dramatically irrelevant tarantella. The
pope, now slightly tipsy, sings the roguish couplets “Ah, sous la rose
je suis infaillible,” attracting the attention of the love-starved Duc de Boum…

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