The Pope is not holier than thou!

One day, a shy gentleman was preparing to board a plane when he heard that the Pope was on the same flight.

“This is exciting,” thought the gentleman. “I’ve always been a big fan of the Pope. Perhaps I’ll be able to see him in person”.

Then the man realised his seat was right next to the Pope himself. Still, he was too shy to speak to His Holiness.

Shortly after take-off, the Pope took a crossword puzzle out of his carry-on bag and began penciling in the answers.

“This is fantastic!” the gentleman mused. “I’m really good at crosswords, if the Pope gets stuck, he’ll ask me for assistance”.

Almost as if providence struck, the Pope turned to the man and said, “Excuse me, but do you know a four letter word referring to a woman that ends in ‘unt’? 

The three Cardinals behind, in front of and beside the Pope shrunk down in their seats, as far as possible, all looking for something on the floor.

The shy man was in morbid shock. He couldn’t breathe. He went within himself, thought deeper and longer for a plausible answer and after almost a minute, the dark clouds of evil parted in his mind and the sun shone in.

Turning to the Pope, the gentleman said, with reverence and politeness, “I believe, Your Holiness, that you’re looking for the word, ‘aunt,”

“Of course,” the Pope mused, not taking his gaze off the cross-word. “You wouldn’t have an eraser, would you?”

Thank you to Russell for sending this in. If you want to read some other great jokes, click here. Or to submit one of your own to share with the Starts at 60 community, click here.