The extensive, some might say endless, coverage of the Pope’s passing has focused on the fortitude of the man facing pain and death. These discussions of the Pontiff’s suffering usually include reflections on how faith has provided solace, that the knowledge of an eternal afterlife makes the transient pain bearable. While there’s no gainsaying this individual example of courage, I then wonder what you can say about the intellectual demands made upon the atheist approaching death. What resources are needed to deal with the final hours with grace and dignity when you’re convinced that they will not be crowned with an afterlife but by simple extinction?