pope benedict the XVI

what do you all think of the new leader choice for the catholic church?? I wasnt here yesterday and Im on a crappy connection right now, so I dont want to drudge through the forums looking for anything about the new pope. but what do you all think about a german pope???? one who is almost 80 years old....... I guess they dont want another pope who will serve as long of a term as john paul II. any thoughts?

 

I dont care I am not catholic

 

i just know he was like 76 or something and doesnt look as nice as john paul II

 

i think he's a great transitional leader and an excellent political choice....

 

I think that he looks and sounds about as evil and vile as they come...and I hope he keels over soon

 

...there's a new pope?

 

I hope you arent serious.......... its been in the news . its a huge deal, especially if you are catholic.

 

At least he's probably too old to start bothering the little Roman boys - but with Viagra & whatnot, who knows.

 

um I am guessing Jewish, but only based on the use of the word draydel.

 

one thing I think is strange is how archaic the cardinals methods of communicating with the outside world are, when they elected the new pope. they were using smoke signals, and there were countless media outlets there in the vatican with cellphones and laptop computers..... they had a hard time reading whether or not the smoke was white or not.......it was sorta greyish.

 

he is a traditionalist, so there probably wont be any profound changes in the catholic church..... I know the cardinals didnt want to do anything radical by electing a young pope, not after the papacy of such a profound pope as john paul II.

 

i'm not catholic and i don't have a TV...

but yeah, i heard something about it. i did think it was odd that john paul was pope for so long but then again, i dont know what the pope does.

 

they shoulda elected al sharpton

 

Still think he looks like yoda....




Nonetheless, his health is apparently a concern, so I guess the Vatican will be rethinking their decision....or preparing ahead of time for the next one sooner than they thought.

 

yeah but wasn't the black smoke pretty damn black?

i assume smoke signals is how it was always done? i'd imagine they may never break that tradition, but i dont know.

 

odd?? pope's reigns last until they keel over. once you are elected pope, you serve until you can serve no more. a pope is just like a king. they make all the decisions in the church, they appoint everybody underneath them. out of all the voting cardinals, john paul appointed all but 3. thats why cardinals pick people who are older, because if they do have a bad reign, then they could be out in a few years..... you dont want someone who is alive for 50 years or more..... usually the ripe age for a pope is in their mid 60s

 

no, they planned it this way. john paul had a profound effect on the church, and they cant just get anyone new in there to change what he did, so they are getting one of his right hand men, which was cardinal joseph...... he wont do anything radical, and will continue on with john paul's reign..... until people get over the death of john paul....... then they will probably get someone much younger.

 

i guess i just find this odd - that a pope is so similar to a king.

really it's just because i'm not catholic so i haven't much clue. i thought it was odd that so many people wanted to see his corpse too. and that so many people waited outside to see white or black smoke....nothing against those people, i just don't understand why people almost worship the pope...

 

because he is the spiritual leader.

 

Also because he had a great impact on people. Especially catholics. It's not worshipping, it's people's ways of showing their admiration and respect for JPII. He was a great man in my opinion, I used to be a catholic, but even now that i'm not longer one i still respect him and admired for what he did in his life.