The Pope resigns / New Pope discussion

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cobl04 said:
Surprised this isn't up yet.

Pope Benedict XVI cites age a factor in decision to resign


An octogenarian resigns from perhaps the most pointless, out-of-touch "leadership" role in the entire world, the first to do so in nearly 600 years. I bet there's much more to it than "health" too. /myopinion

I was going to post this but I had to get to work.

Yeah, this is interesting. I really would like to see who will be the next Pope. But it could be guaranteed that it will be another hardline conservative preaching the same absurdities.
 
Well, I can see this thread is already going to be a waste of time.

And you wonder why there's no discourse in Free Your Mind.
 
It's not promising, that's for sure. It's difficult to start a rational or meaningful conversation when the opening salvo is so openly derisive and dismissive.
 
I mean I'm not going to deny it is an odd time for him to retire but cobbler pretty much start this thread accusing him of child molestation
 
To be fair, though there is no evidence that Ratzinger himself ever engaged in child molestation, there is lots of credible evidence to show that he, at best, knew that priests were molesting kids and did nothing, or at worst (and the evidence leans somewhat more towards this), he knew and actively sought to cover it up.
 
Again, I'm not saying he isn't worth of derision, but not sure it was mandated so quickly.
 
Oh he's not resigning until the end of the month? The timings not as strange as I thought in that case. still Easter, it is weird.
 
To be fair, though there is no evidence that Ratzinger himself ever engaged in child molestation, there is lots of credible evidence to show that he, at best, knew that priests were molesting kids and did nothing, or at worst (and the evidence leans somewhat more towards this), he knew and actively sought to cover it up.

True, and that evidence will overshadow his papacy. That along with his refusal to ordain women as priests and harshly criticizing gay and lesbians.

Honestly, I can't think of anything good Pope Benedict did during his papacy. Pope John Paul II was credited in helping bring down the Iron Curtain and for traveling to practically every corner of the globe to meet with Catholics. He was a hard act to follow, granted, but this Pope didn't do much that was admirable.
 
Oh he's not resigning until the end of the month? The timings not as strange as I thought in that case. still Easter, it is weird.

Indeed. He's doing this during Lent. Ash Wednesday is this week.

So the cardinals are going to choose a new Pope right in time for Easter? The timing is suspicious to me.
 
True. He's doing this during Lent. Ash Wednesday is this week.

So the cardinals are going to choose a new Pope right in time for Easter? The timing is suspicious to me.

The quote says something along the lines of the timing is a hypothesis they don't know for certain that they will have a new pope by easter
 
True, and that evidence will overshadow his papacy. That along with his refusal to ordain women as priests and harshly criticizing gay and lesbians.

Honestly, I can't think of anything good Pope Benedict did during his papacy. Pope John Paul II was credited in helping bring down the Iron Curtain and for traveling to practically every corner of the globe to meet with Catholics. He was a hard act to follow, granted, but this Pope didn't do much that was admirable.

I'm not Catholic personally and I was never all that fond of him. Even my utmost staunchly Catholic friend frequently referred to him as Pope Paparazzi so no I don't think he was overly popular.
 
I can guarantee that any potential successor to Benedict will also refuse to ordain female preists. It's a thing.

For now.
 
Well, I can see this thread is already going to be a waste of time.

And you wonder why there's no discourse in Free Your Mind.

Maybe that's ok only under certain circumstances? No discourse, that is. Don't see any complaints about it, other than you bringing that up. I mean that in a positive way about you in that regard, just so there isn't any confusion.

I don't think he was necessarily accusing the Pope of child molestation, maybe he meant more about coverups? There's no question or doubt about the Pope's role in that, but I don't know what could come out that hasn't already. Don't think it's all that unusual for an 85 (soon to be 86) year old to have to quit any kind of work, let alone that one. I'm the last person who would defend the guy, but I hardly think that's in need of any sort of conspiracy theories just yet.
 
I think you misunderstand. Peef was the one complaining about how one sided fym threads are.

I'm merely pointing out the more than obvious reason why that is.
 
Well, a news thread is a news thread. I just hated that the GOP thread and other "ongoing discussion" type threads had become a bunch of liberals bitching about conservatives with no actual trading of ideas going on. Caleb and INDY have returned, which I think is a good thing.
 
My first thought was "Palpatine is quitting??" He just looks so much like him.

I think if we take this at face value (that he was an 85-year-old man who has declined so much physically that he no longer feels up to meeting the challenges of his job, which include many public events/appearances and extensive international travel), then I have to respect him for the decision that he is made. It is actually a remarkably modern thing to say that you are no longer up to snuff and you want to move aside for the next generation to take your place. Compare that with the last couple of years of JPII's papacy, where he was essentially a walking corpse. I had to cringe anytime I saw him because he always looked either like he was suffering unspeakably or like he was tranquilized. I'm willing to bet that most of us wouldn't want to live out our last days like that.

From what I can gather there is little positive that he did during his Papacy aside from improving Catholic/Jewish relations. You will notice that Jewish leaders have been particularly positive and full of praise today and it's because the Pope spent considerable effort addressing the Church's failings during the holocaust, etc. Unfortunately he did not devote himself in such a manner to a number of other pressing issues that his Church is facing today and I don't think that history will treat him particularly kindly, or really particularly unkindly. He is more likely to be a blip on the radar screen.

There are some very impressive bishops and cardinals in the third world (particularly thinking of Latin America and certain parts of Africa) who are strong advocates for social justice, an area on which I think the Church should refocus because unlike other stances, it is actually correct. Unfortunately since the College of Cardinals is now stuffed to the brim with conservative dogmatic types, we're not likely to see a Pope whose views and approach is radically different than that of the current one.
 
There are some very impressive bishops and cardinals in the third world (particularly thinking of Latin America and certain parts of Africa) who are strong advocates for social justice, an area on which I think the Church should refocus because unlike other stances, it is actually correct. Unfortunately since the College of Cardinals is now stuffed to the brim with conservative dogmatic types, we're not likely to see a Pope whose views and approach is radically different than that of the current one.

:up:

It's very sad that they wouldn't pick someone like that, and that they've lost so much focus on social justice issues. Luckily many members of the church haven't lost any focus on that - but that's also where a major disconnect happens, and why so many people are disenchanted.
 
Some of my friends are wondering if this means we're headed for the end times. They're referring to St. Malachy's list of popes and how the one after Benedict will be the last pope, overseeing the end of the days.

There's enough evidence to say that list was forged in the 1600s.
 
Sorry, I just had to share this:

163378_511694595563284_701059390_n_zps5545ed40.jpg
 
From Twitter:

Resign? Sorry, Benedict. You cannot resign. You must carry your papacy to full term. #bestpopejoke
 
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