New Pope chosen

Jngrbrdman

Jngrbrdman

New member


White smoke from the Vatican and a new pope is chosen. I'm surprised at two things... first that he is 78 years old and second that he is German. I was thinking that they would choose a younger guy and that he would be Itallian. Oh well... I guess that teaches me to bet my paycheck on stuff like this. :lol At least I can start using the old "is the Pope Catholic?" response again when someone asks me a question where the answer is 'yes'. lol
 
For some reason, I think my wife told me a few eeks ago that the next Pope after Johnny would be an older "interim" solution and a younger one would be next.
 
I asked a close friend of mine what he thought about who the new Pope would be and he joked that "she would be black and gay". lol We had been talking about the politics surrounding choosing a new Pope and how there was speculation that the new one could be one who changes the Church's stance on gay marriage and women priests. I told him that this one wouldn't be a woman, but depending on who they choose, it could mean the next Pope could be one... I usually don't get too caught up in Church politics, but I'm going to be paying attention to it for a couple years I think. We'll see if the Church really is as unchanging as its supposed to be.
 
Things were followed much closer here in Europe, it's normal. The debate now is if it's a good political choice as he is very firm in his religious convictions, what the world needed most was a free spirit towards other religions, don't know how's that going to be now.
Anyway, you point his age, I'm sure this election is a career achievment award if I might say so. :rolleyes:
 
You can't just believe what you want and say you're part of a religion. They all have strict guidelines and if you don't follow them, you aren't part of it. You aren't forced to be any religion. If you want change, go someplace else.
 
shotime said:
You can't just believe what you want and say you're part of a religion. They all have strict guidelines and if you don't follow them, you aren't part of it. You aren't forced to be any religion. If you want change, go someplace else.
Click to expand...

Are you Catholic? Because I am, I can tell you firsthand that there are both conservative and liberal members of the Church, and those who don't agree with the Church on every political issue aren't excommunicated as you imply. There are guidelines, but there is flexibility in individual political beliefs.
 
We had a discussion about this in management class and all concurred that it was a poor business decision made on the Catholic church's behalf.

No, I am not Catholic but many of my classmates, as well as the professor, are. The professor honestly felt that the Catholic religion has been on the downfall for years and is rapidly depleting. In the end, failure to innovate will kill any business.
 
GSRstilez said:
We had a discussion about this in management class and all concurred that it was a poor business decision made on the Catholic church's behalf.

No, I am not Catholic but many of my classmates, as well as the professor, are. The professor honestly felt that the Catholic religion has been on the downfall for years and is rapidly depleting. In the end, failure to innovate will kill any business.
Click to expand...

I have to disagree with you and your classmates here Sean. Being from a Jesuit University taking theology/philosophy classes are a requirement and in my Medical Ethics class we discussed the reason Cardinal Ratsinger was chosen. First off the Catholic church can not be treated like a business for the sole reason that nearly all facets are completely voluntary; the Sacramentality, donations, participation, etc. However, I do agree that religion as a whole has been on the downfall due to our much faster paced lives and the "other issues" but that is the reason the new Pope was chosen. The Catholic religion wanted to elect someone who is capable of bringing back the values that have been lost over the years. Not only is Pope Benedict a determined leader but he was also one of the foremost Cardinals when it came to taking a side on ethical issues such as artifical reproduction and abortion. If you do a search on the encyclicals that he wrote while he was a Cardinal over the past 10-15 years I think you'll understand the direction the Catholic church wanted to move towards while also rebuilding some of the trustworthiness that has fallen in the past years.
 
Point well taken MS22.

Like I said, I'm not a catholic so do not know much about the workings of the church. I know that it cannot be run exactly like a business due to "written in stone" beliefs, but IMO my professor had some good points. I'll relay your thoughts and note her response.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top