Why is the pope's hat pointy?

[Guest Kevin Anderson]

Why is the pope's hat pointy? I'm curious!

[Nunsense]

I think that Wikipedia covers the history and use of the mitre quite well. There may be other explanations for the use of this particular type of headwear but for simple curiosity's sake, this article covers a lot.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitre 

What I liked was the picture of the Bishop piece used in chess since it also has a 'pointy hat'.

I am no scholar but some simple questions can be answered by a Google search. Just type in your question and see what comes up!