A New Pope
POSTED BY: Connorflynn
UPDATED: Sunday, May 1, 2005 17:13
VIEWED: 10298
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Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany has been selected by the Roman Catholic church as the new pope. He will be known as Pope Benedict XVI.
He is 78 years old and about as hardline as you can possibly get.
I am a Roman Catholic, non-practicing for the last several years because of doctrinal belief differences. I spent 10 years as an Altar boy and 3 as a Head Altar boy under the watchful eye of Father Rosello. I was confirmed by Bishop Head. I remember the day clearly, when I was confirmed. I'm normally not an ultra spiritual person. When I stood with all my class mates and watched as the Bishop Processed between us, I remember feeling the power and energy and aura this man carried with him. On that Day I believed in God, a God --maybe not Catholicism's God, but a Supreme being. I was 17 years old.
I stayed a practicing Catholic for another 6 or 7 years. I went to confession every 2 weeks and went to Mass every Sunday. It all changed when
my brother was basically excommunicated because he made it public that he is gay. He was refused communion even though he and I had served 100's of masses. The doctrine of the church dictated that action. I found it wrong as I feel the Church is wrong about it's stance on Contraception and wrong about it's stance on priests and marriage among other things.
I felt sadness the day Pope John Paul II passed away. For me, it was a day of reminiscing and a day of reflection I guess. I remember a flamboyant priest named Father Mack , who when he spoke held a congregation in thrall. He wasn't the standard run of the mill snorefest speaker. He really had things to say and belived in those things. He was de-frocked for preaching counter to the Standard Roman Catholic doctrine. He was considered too rambunctious and subversive. He was 33 at the time. He was the last priest I heard speak.
Catholicism needs more young priests who speak out for what is right and not just about tradition.
For the life of me I can't figure out why on earth the Catholic Church would pick one of the most vigorously conservative Cardinals as Pope, when they are running out of young followers and running out of new priests.
The Church needs reform, not further stagnation. The Church needs new, young blood. Not Depression Era philosophy.
Man am I depressed now. I had hoped that this by chance would be the beginning of a New Catholic Era, where tolerance became the rule.
Ah well..I ramble..Maybe this would've been better in a blog.
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Well the man's 78 so in not-less-than-5-years the conclave will get another stab at it, probably. It saddens me to see the Church moving farther from the love that christ taught, but then for the Catholic Church temporal power has often been more important than agape.
-Eli
If voting mattered, they'd make it illegal.
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The BEST thing about this new Pope is that he's 78 years old. In five more years, they'll be looking for a new one. (Maybe God will take him home sooner- I can only hope.) Unfortunately, John Paul II and Ratzinger between them will have appointed pretty much all the Cardinals, making the next conclave about as conservative as this one. I think what this means is that the RCC will pretty much spin into irrelevance.
As a side note: Don't you find it odd that many of the Jewish-based religions (Judaism, RCCism, Protestantism and Islam) suddenly seem to have discovered regressive tendencies all at the same time? Suddenly, we have "fundamentalists" of ALL kinds behaving like general *ssholes. The only thing that I can think is that they (we?) are reacting to the same world-wide phenomenon, which I suppose is global capitalism and the culture of greed. Unfortunatley, instead of moving forward, it looks like they (we?) want to tunnel into the past.
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Considering that the last Pope was regarded as having been quite successful and instrumental in invigorating a younger Catholic audience, it would seem to me that by sticking with a Cardinal known to follow closely with John Paul II that the Church may indeed be attempting to continuing the previous Pope’s efforts in bringing in “new, young blood,” as it were. As far as the younger generation of Catholics and Catholic priests, it is my understanding that they tend to be more conservative and traditional then the previous generation of priest. The choice of a conservative Pope is in tune, I think, with the growing movement of traditionalism, brought into the church by younger priests. So I tend to believe that the Church made an appropriate choice in electing the new Pope.
Not that I don't think some things could use some revamping, and nor do I believe that this new Pope won't necessarily do that.
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Qui desiderat pacem praeparet bellum.
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Quote:
Originally posted by SignyM:
As a side note: Don't you find it odd that many of the Jewish-based religions (Judaism, RCCism, Protestantism and Islam) suddenly seem to have discovered regressive tendencies all at the same time? Suddenly, we have "fundamentalists" of ALL kinds behaving like general *ssholes. The only thing that I can think is that they (we?) are reacting to the same world-wide phenomenon, which I suppose is global capitalism and the culture of greed.
I hadn't really thought about it, but you're right, it does seem odd that all the major religions' fundamentalists are becoming more active.
Or could it be that fundamentalists are taking advantage of current issues to steal the limelight and we're simply paying more attention to them now?
I dunno, but it seems to me that global capitalism and greed have been a long time in the making and things like science and a more universal form of debate have arisen to the point where everyone has an opinion as to where religion should exist in society. Regardless of who is right or who will prevail, I don't think religion was ever in the domain of public opinion quite as it is now and their response may be conservatism.
Plus, there the fact that, in the US at least, there are more and more people who say they belong to an organized religion but then interprete that religion as they see it fitting into their own lives (i.e. Catholics using birth control, not going to Church every Sunday, etc). It would take a very liberal religion to attempt to allow people to make their own interpretations without the valid concern that it will tear the religion apart.
But then there are tons of other places besides the US where religion is very strong and very strict so I'm just speculating.
As to the new Pope...I'm also disappointed they chose someone so conservative, though hardly surprised.
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John Paul II was a good man but a misguided (I believe) administrator.
Benedict the XVI is not a good man, and will be just as misguided an administrator, if not more so.
Perhaps John Paul II made his personal peace with Nazis and befriended one. The best thing I can say about Benedict is, at least he's old.
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Quote:I think that’s a reasonable possibility.
Originally posted by Kirikoli:
I hadn't really thought about it, but you're right, it does seem odd that all the major religions' fundamentalists are becoming more active.
Or could it be that fundamentalists are taking advantage of current issues to steal the limelight and we're simply paying more attention to them now?
I’m not so sure that fundamentalists are necessarily more active across the board though, and even less certain that any one cause can be attributed to the movements of fundamentalists in all the Judaic religions of the world. It’s probably impossible to make such generalizations considering the breadth of cultures and politics that these religions encompass, but blaming it all on capitalism seems dumb; that doesn’t even make sense.
In the case of the Roman Catholic Church I think there is a movement towards more Conservatism. I’m not sure why, but a good guess would be that it is in response to rabid secularism, which has significantly eroded the Churches influence in Western Europe, among other places. The church has remained strong in other areas, particularly Latin American, but I think that many Catholics are disheartened to see so much of the Churches influence wane in what has basically been the cradle of Roman Catholicism for over a thousand years.
Or maybe people have decided that Conservatism is a good approach. Certainly I think that is true in some cases, such as abortion. I think that the levity with which so much of Postmodern Secularism applies to abortion is troubling to many people, and has served to help emboldened the traditionalist movement in the Roman Catholic Church. Many people disagree with the Catholic Church’s position on abortion, but I think they tend to disagree more with an attitude that seems to many to be advocating a culture of infanticide. That’s just one example of a possible cause; I’m sure the reasons on whole are myriad and complex.
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Qui desiderat pacem praeparet bellum.
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Well. Benedict was only a Nazi Youth when he was 14. He said that he didn't like it, so I guess we'll just have to take his word for it.. Lord, just read yet another article where Ratzinger already has a media nickname... No, not Papa Ratzi, it's Papa-Nazi. Hang-on, how many more Pope do we have to go thru before the Anti-Christ? oh wait, or are we there already?
or...
BTW, April 20th would be Hitler's 116th BDay...
Coincidence? I think not...
HITLER YOUTH Marches on CD 21 + 1 Bonus Track Nazi Hitler Youth Songs on CD in excellent condition. Remastered from original 78 rpm records. NOW with CD-TEXT for your CD player. Tracks are: 1. Schier dreissig Jahre bist du alt 2. Stuermende Jugend 3. Junge Mannschaft im Sudosten 4. Schwur der Hitlerjugend 5. Wenn alle untreu werden 6. Uns geht die Sonne nicht unter 7. Auf, hebt unsere Fahnen in den frischen Morgenwind 8. HitlerJugend Marsch 9. Die Jugend marschiert 10. Heldenjugend 11. Und im Grase singt eine Grille 12. Solang" wir Jung Sind 13. Regimentskinder 14. Deutschlands Heldensoehne 15. Ich bin der Bub vom Fuldatal 16. Hohe Tannen 17. Narvik Lied 18. Morgen marschieren wir (Marsch der SSDiv.HJ) 19. Uns kann Keiner 20. Horst Wessels Lied 21. Auf zum Kampf Bonus Track: 22. JUGEND WILL MARSCHIEREN !ns1024
and other feedbacks in the states already...
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Real nice folks, and that Nazi Flag is a real fair touch 
that picture has no class.
Basically who would want a Pope that feels that his church is not the only way to go?
I would not want my spiritual leader to be all wishy-washy about the faith he is the leader of.
I would want a leader that held up truths as Truth and still understood the need for interfaith dialogue, as this pope has said himself that the need for interfaith dialogue is crucial.
Pope Benedict deserves a fair shake, he was appointed into the position he held under Pope John II and took the office only because he believed in what the Pope was doing. Also he was VOTED as Pope, he didn't take it in some millitary coup, so please give the man some time to see how he actually does as Pope before we start railing against him.
And as far as Non-Practicing Catholics go, They are always the first to complain, but yet are never there to help fight for reforms or change in their churches.
In my understanding(My wife and Children are Roman Catholic, as well as my Mother and her side of the family), The Catholic church is a fluid cultural and religious instutition, if you don't agree with something, bailing is not the solution.
As far as his conservative policies go...
the Gay issue: name me one World religious leader that supports the Gay lifestyle?
Not even the Dalai Lama supports being Gay, he calls it "UNnatural"
Women as Priests: the Majority of catholics 80% do not want to see this, so he is simply holding up the majority of the Catholics wishes, what is wrong with that?(I am talking the Catholic world not just American Catholics who tend to feel that only their opinion counts.)
Married Priests: There are Married priests, they are in the Eastern Rite of the Catholic church, any Catholic man interested in becoming a priest after getting married can change to one of these rites at any time and still remain within the Holy See, it is as simple as that. Just ask your Bishop or Priest if you don't believe me.
The Latin Rite only has a few married priests, but they are there. That is simply the way of the Latin Rite, it is not for everyone, but alas, it is there.
As far as Pope Benedict being a member of Hitler Youth as a Child, it has been proven that his membership as well as the majority of Hitler youth was compulsory. He did not like the experience, he said so himself, he was just a child at the time. He, like most young German children at the time had no Idea of the reality of Hitler or the Nazi Party, they were just fed the stories of their Glory, but not of the gritty horrible reality.
He wrote much of the famed documents given by the church apologizing for past atrocities committed to the Jewish people in the name of the Church, and he has been a supporter of Pope John Paul's reforms and of Vatican II, and Pope Benedict has pledged to continue along the path laid out by the last Pope.
Only time will tell if he is a Great, Good, Fair, or Bad Pope, but lets not made a decision now until we see what happens.
And as far as I am concerned I have no problem with him, or his Past with Hitler Youth, it understand the issues surrounding him at that time in his life.
I congratulate Catholics on their new leader.
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Quote:I agree.
Originally posted by ScottishBrownCoat:
Pope Benedict deserves a fair shake, he was appointed into the position he held under Pope John II and took the office only because he believed in what the Pope was doing. Also he was VOTED as Pope, he didn't take it in some millitary coup, so please give the man some time to see how he actually does as Pope before we start railing against him.
(couldn't decide whether to say "amen" or ask for a "Hell yeah!"
)-----
We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.
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