It will serve a larger purpose, too, the same one that motivated satirists from Aristophanes and Juvenal to Swift and Pope to Mark Twain and the creators of "Dr. Strangelove": to curb self-indulgence, deflate pretense, and expel stupidity.

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Peter's Square on February 27, but the church is not planning a formal ceremony to mark the pope's departure, the Rev.

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Peter's Square on February 27, but the church is not planning a formal ceremony to mark the pope's departure, Lombardi said.

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