Pope Francis has died

There were recent posts about George Foreman and Val Kilmer dying. The way these rules are enforced is pretty hit and miss.

With that said I think that the pope dying is a subject worth discussing on HN.

It's unfortunate that it seems to be descending into a flame war about Israel though.

I don't get it. There are nearly unlimited forums where these deaths, especially the pope, are being actively discussed. Why do we need it here?

Hacker News was once a place focused on sharing news you wouldn't find most other places. Is it time to update the guidelines?

HN focuses on fostering thoughtful discussion by curious people on anything those folks find interesting. Technology naturally bubbles up, but it is far from the only thing on HN.

This focus on people is to me, is WAY better than theme-based filtering (compare with many subreddit cesspools).