Interesting comment about the Pope

[verte76]

This past weekend I went to a wedding party for my sister in New York. Not surprisingly I was asked what I think of the new Pope, since the rest of my family and their friends are not Catholic but know that I am. During the conversation I asked one of the guests who is a native of Germany how she had felt about a German getting elected pope. She told me she thought it was pretty cool, even though she isn't Catholic. She thought it put some sort of closure on War World II and its consequences. I hadn't thought about it that way. I know many FYMers don't like his views on gays, contraception, etc, etc, and I don't want to go there. Do you agree with this particular German view or think it has merit?

 

[nbcrusader]

Should the papacy be the object of nationalistic pride? I realize that the never-ending stream of Italian popes and the election of a Polish pope as Poland emerged from the dark days of communism gave JP2 a boost to his fellow Poles. It just doesn't seem like an appropriate element to consider when electing popes.

 

[melon]

The Papacy is as political of a position as it always has been. JPII just put a thick coat of gloss over it, and Ratzinger is just riding it currently. The "religious" aspect of the Papacy is, ironically enough, the least talked about aspect.

Melon

 

[Rono]

It isvery intersting though, i heard he was with the hitler jugend.

 

[verte76]

I was surprised to hear this from a secular German. The papacy has always been political, and now it seems like the Italian stranglehold on it has been broken. There really isn't anything in a papal election that we don't have in politics in the U.S. and elsewhere. I've heard horror stories about character assassination and such going on during conclaves.
Also, I heard this guy has alot of enemies in Germany. Maybe the enemies are most Bavarian, since that's the Catholic part of Germany, and the Protestants of the North feel differently because they're not effected. This girl is from the North.