For years now, I've been telling people that the cross atop
Mont Royal would turn purple when the Pope died. I did not have
this information on any Good Authority and it is the kind of goofy
yarn that urban myths are spun from. It is also exactly the kind
of ridiculous endeavour that Montréal's municipal officials have a history of
embracing. No one really knows why they do it but everyone admires
the pluck it takes to spend money to make the cross turn purple in
a province that wholesale threw off the Catholic church nearly 50
years ago. In a town where churches are measured by their real
estate, rather than spiritual, value.
So, the story was always told with a twinge of doubt and an
expectation that it would be filed under “Why won't
Montrealers shut the fuck up about how cool their city is”
when the Big I Am finally tapped Karol on the shoulder.
For years now, I've been telling people that the cross atop Mont Royal would turn purple when the Pope died. I did not have this information on any Good Authority and it is the kind of goofy yarn that urban myths are spun from. It is also exactly the kind of ridiculous endeavour that Montréal's municipal officials have a history of embracing. No one really knows why they do it but everyone admires the pluck it takes to spend money to make the cross turn purple in a province that wholesale threw off the Catholic church nearly 50 years ago. In a town where churches are measured by their real estate, rather than spiritual, value.
So, the story was always told with a twinge of doubt and an expectation that it would be filed under “Why won't Montrealers shut the fuck up about how cool their city is” when the Big I Am finally tapped Karol on the shoulder.
But, ho ho : purple!