Whenever I see pictures of Mr. Joseph Ratzinger, I imagine him as he really is - behind the facade - not how he wants us to imagine he is.
Take away the robes, the hats, the jewels and the gold-encrusted walking sticks; take away the splendid architecture, the thrones, the carvings, the statues; take away the pomp, the symbolism, the titles, the servants, and the many other trappings of obscene wealth; take away the phaoronic splendour of his taxpayer-funded world tours; take away all that and there is nothing left. Nothing, that is, except for hollow beliefs; unsubstantiated claims; grossly exaggerated power over gullible and vulnerable people; and a covered up paedophile conspiracy.
Others may see it differently - especially if they were brainwashed as children - but he's just another man with deluded opinions, nothing more. Just another man passing on the "Chinese Whispers" from his 264 predecessors. When I see tv footage of him standing berobed on the balcony of his exclusive Vatican apartment block, telling us what we can and can't do, I invent my own image of him wearing a tee-shirt and shorts, standing on the balcony of a slum apartment in downtown Rome; and I ask myself how his words would stand up to public scrutiny in such an alternate situation.
Or even if he stood at a podium, in a grey suit with a plain shirt and patterned tie - like a President or a Prime Minister - how many would pay attention to what he had to say? How many would not express scepticism at his false promises, if spoken without the resplendent indulgences supplied to him by the Vatican?
Maybe he's best imagined in a Marylin Monroe pose:
Mr. Ratzinger from Bavaria. Underneath the regalia, he's the same as everyone else.