Angry Birds Attack Doves Released by Pope Francis; Is It an Omen of Things to Come?
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In a parody of the popular video game Angry Birds, a seagull and a large black crow attacked on Sunday at the Vatican Square. However, the objects of their attack were not pigs but fellow avians - two white doves released by children who stood beside Pope Francis.
The release of the white doves was a peace gesture, but other birds appear to have other motives, causing one of the doves to lose some feathers when it struggled to break free from the seagull, while the other dove suffered from repeated pecks from the crow.
Members of the papal audience may dismiss the incident as a survival of the fittest game among winged creatures, but doomsday prophets view it as an omen. Before the bird fight, Pope Francis appealed for peace and prayed for constructive dialogue in Ukraine amid news that anti-government protesters have died.
"I am close to Ukraine in prayer, in particular to those who have lost their lives in recent days and to their families," RT.com quoted the pontiff.
He urged Ukrainian institutions and civil society to avoid violence and reminded them that "the spirit of peace and a search for the common good" must be in the heart of all.
To view the photos of the bird fight, click here.
Commenters had a field day interpreting the event.
Dirk believes the seagull is a symbol of Saudi Arabia and the crow is Qatar, which both report to the U.S.
Rafael dismissed the incident as a natural phenomenon. "Crows & Sea gulls are predator birds. Crows attack furry winter hates mistaking them for prey! What happened is called hunger!" he wrote.
Osita Annie's theory is that "Maybe also they were the NSA biological implanted listening posts, stationed to ruin any ukarane peace offering."
Shamie has a good explanation, which seems to have some science behind it and reads: "Doves are social bird, they flock together for safety. It's a bad idea releasing only two as they are exposed to predators and scavengers such as the crow and the seagull. This happens all around the world, not only the Vatican. The Ukrainian national birds are the stork and falcon (falcon being a representation of a main pagan god). Would have been swell if heaven had a bigger budget and possessed a falcon or stork to drive the message home. This reminds me of the Balled eagle incident flying into the window at the U.S. ORU chapel last year. Perhaps the only revealing sign here is how silly people can get."