Lightning strikes St Peter's dome at Vatican on Pope's resignation news

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February 11, 2013 - Just hours after Pope Benedict XVI announced his intention to abdicate the Throne of St Peter, lightning struck the dome of the basilica.

"#PHOTO: Lightning strikes St Peter's dome at #Vatican on day the #Pope announced resignation, by Filippo Monteforte pic.twitter.com/FehVjFYP"

Original source AFP(Agence France-Press):

https://twitter.com/AFP/status/301074815287193601

Some are taking this as a sign of God's displeasure. After all, this whole 'physical inadequacy' excuse was tried by Moses a few millennia ago, and the Lord wasn't overly pleased then, either.

His Grace is loath to disappoint, but lightning is produced quite naturally in thunderstorms when liquid and ice particles collide, causing a build-up of electrical fields within the clouds. Once these fields reach a critical level, a giant 'spark' occurs between them (or between them and the ground) rather like static electricity, reducing the charge separation. The lightning spark can occur between clouds, between the cloud and air, between the cloud and ground, or between the cloud and the dome of St Peter's.

And if God were going to make a point, He probably wouldn't aim for the lightning conductor.

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4 comments

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mandyksmith2 wrote February 17, 2013 6:10:30 PM CET

Does this mean that GOD is angry or HAPPY that he has resigned ??? something tells me happy, how can god support a religion where the pope and underlings are as rich as thieves yet all around them is poverty ad suffering.
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DmoniX_The_Destroyer wrote February 12, 2013 10:00:28 PM CET

Aside form the fact the thousands of strikes hit the Vatican a year, this is probably just a FX put into the video... And aside from that, who cares? Lightning hit the church in town here during a wedding.. is it Satan???? OMG!! What ever shall we do!! Natural forces of nature hitting high structures lol
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Naranja wrote February 12, 2013 11:02:30 AM CET

yeah and if it was god he probaly would have heard about this first hand not a couple hour later.. Though not disappointed in wars and murder, he gets very disappointed in this old guy in his fruity costume.
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Clearized1 wrote February 12, 2013 6:25:19 AM CET

OP wrote- And if God were going to make a point, He probably wouldn't aim for the lightning conductor.

Maybe God was hoping the Pope was leaning on a conductor within the building.