Pope Benedict XVI (was...yeah)

HeyYou

Seeing as it's topical and all that jazz: what do people think about the election of Joseph Ratzinger as Pope Benedict XVI? Was he the right choice? Is it OK to be conservative? Is it a pity he had the chance to choose the name Sixtus VI and didn't? There was a huge turnout for all the shenanigans in Rome, and people seem to be wishing him well, but if he came to Ireland would you go to see him?

Crash

Palpatine. also i'm waiting around for Sixtus IX - that'll be funny as hell

as for seeing him - no. not at all. not a matter for me. meh

Matthewthebig

IX is 9
VI is 6

Just thought I'd be pedantic

Caoimhe

I'm not currently a fan purely because he went and got feckin elected as pope the day before my german leaving cert oral and he's a bleedin Deutscher...

mentalimplosion

i think that in 2005 the catholic church is most definitely not ready for a liberal pope. definitely. i disagree with the whole system of pope-electing and such but overall i think that, in the current state that the church is in, maybe ol benedict was a little too conservative., which could lead to more alienation of modern catholics, which would definitely lead to reduced mass-going, and that's something the church doesn't need.
i didn't expect the church to adapt immediately to the modern religious/spiritual/cultural climate just because pope john paul died, and since it really has nothing to do with me, i think that ratzinger will do whatever the pope should be doing, in pope terms. which is basically denouncing feminism and homosexuality, and condoms, and hiv and all that jazz

kevinroche

I don't think anyone can come down on one side or the other on Ratzinger. Lets see what he does first. He hasn't had a chance yet.

I hadn't been a fan of the late Pope for most of his Papacy, but boy did I do a classic Minister McDowell on it just before he died. I actually gained a huge amount of respect for the man and even started going back to Mass.



I honestly never ever thought that could happen.... but it did

Crash

Matthewthebig wrote:

IX is 9
VI is 6

Just thought I'd be pedantic

<----thats the point.

Sixtus.

The Ninth.

think about it.

quick off the mark arent yeh? :P

Matthewthebig

I get it. Now. I'm a moron. Podge won't be too happy about this thread.

Zounds

Matthewthebig wrote:

IX is 9
VI is 6

Just thought I'd be pedantic

that's not being pedantic, that's pointing out the bleeding obvious

Plunky

Am I the only one who doesn't get it?

Crash

Sixtus - 6

Ninth - 9

6. 9.

69.

etc.

Plunky

...sex joke?

doonothing

jaysus

thats a fairly pathetic joke haha!

aaaanyways....
well, i think more mass-goers would definitely be lost if there was a liberal pope than another conservative one, no?
i get the feeling the church has its eternal place as the antithesis of all things modern and liberal..
not that thats necessarily a bad thing, everything in balance i guess, papa ratzi will keep up that balance if nohing else.

smiley_knees

*blinks as I finally get the joke* Oh yeah. Haha, quite humourous
Anywayz, didn't he say in one of his first speeches that rock music was immoral. I don't think he'd say that if he listened to P.O.D or something tio that effect...

halenger

Ah but that's not rock, that's "Christian Rock".

Raphael

Didn't he also say something about a nation or a person who turns their back on god is inevitably doomed? Because that is damned bull****. Perhaps someone who turns their back on morality is doomed, but as a spiritual atheist I take huge offence to that. And he looks far too like Emperor Palpatine for my liking

Oh, and I didn't get the Sixtus IX for ages because I was thinking "Sitxus the Ninth"

halenger

Matthewthebig wrote:

Podge won't be too happy about this thread.

I'll live...with the changed title.

It's not really all that funny either but hey, whatever works for you (plural, who thought it was funny).

Chowburger

smiley_knees wrote:

Anywayz, didn't he say in one of his first speeches that rock music was immoral.

I heard he condemned it as 'an expression of basic human emotion' or something...

Crash

Hey, the gods rottweiler thing has been floating around for ages podge, and will be floating around for a long time i'd say - depending on how he acts

Undergod

Doesn't he have an environmental agenda? A tree hugging pope, how legend is that?

HeyYou

Yeah, why did my title get changed? It's not being disrespectful, and why would anyone care if it was? Another funny Pope name is Papa Jo (Papa as in Pope, and Jo as in Joseph, geddit?), I'm going to stick to that from now on.

Here's another question: should the Pope be elected by the laity and not by conclave?

LiamD

I think we should all get to vote on the new pope.This guy seems way harsh much like the last one.

J Campion

I think we should all get to vote on the new pope.

The logistics of this alone are insane. Also how would you prove you're a Catholic, collect candles or sumthing? The cardinals represent the Catholic laity (albeit the Catholic laity of 40 years ago in most cases) therefore they are using their better judgement to elect the person who they think will best serve the people. Also isn't like the Holy Spirit supposed to guide the Cardinals or something?

This guy seems way harsh much like the last one.

It's not a popularity contest, the Pope is supposed to guide the Church in the way he sees fit and the way which has been laid down in the Church's laws etc. Granted, some of the opinions he has expressed have seemed a conservative, but he's entitled to his opinion and people can choose to follow his "guidance" or not.

The Pope's job description doesn't include remaining as popular as possible but does include preserving the core teachings/belief system of his church.

Not all of these are completely my own opinions, I just think we shouldn't jump to slam the Cathloic Church simply for refusing to modernise and liberalise.

Crash

The Pope's job description doesn't include remaining as popular as possible but does include preserving the core teachings/belief system of his church.

well technically, it does. seeing as fewer RC laymen means things not as good for church :P

Bazookatone

Raphael wrote:

he looks far too like Emperor Palpatine for my liking

Did you see "Thunderball"? (one of the good, connery, Bond films). Remember the bad guy in that, the one with the eye patch? Now, imagine if Pope Benedict had an eyepatch, ok, now am I the only one who thinks "Yikes!!!!"

Spraypaint

Whoever the Pope is I'm going to reserve judgement until he says or does anything or sets out some policy. Until then the jury is out.

HeyYou

That's a very Christian thing to do. But does anyone else just....not....like the guy? He's done some pretty horrible stuff over the years. His opinion on homosexuality is that all gays are sexual deviants, or perverts, or both. A lot of the the more conservative clergy take what he says as absolute truth too, he's done some serious damage already.

His sermon before conclave was a bit crazy too. Among the things he listed as dangerous were liberalism, free thought and homosexuality. He also said the following: "A dictatorship of relativism is established that recognizes nothing definite and leaves only one's own ego and one's own desires as the final measure" or, in common parlance: "We'll decide on your values and make your decisions for you, because if we leave you guys to do it you'll just do it wrong." I know the Pontiff is supposed to have a shepherding role, but this is just authoritarianism. Isn't it?

Barry Aldwell

About time they put a Gunner in charge.

mentalimplosion

i'm not being the least bit homophobic when i say this but i think his opinions on homosexuality would be the least of my worries. if the pope says 'homosexuality is evil', like, what's gonna happen? i am far more concerned with his eventual statements on contraception, especially since the churh has such a stronghold on community life in many parts of sub saharan africa, and if he comes out saying the usual catholic ****e about condoms being the devil's work etc, then it's the impoverished peoples of sub saharan africa who are going to suffer.

Matthewthebig

The thing is it all has to taken as a whole though, because as soon as the church says one thing leniant other things are more likely to occour.

I also think the problem is the fact that he is going back on JPII's statements about homosexuality. for example the church recognised gays and said god loves gays just not the gay act. Which is quite understandable as the churches teaching is that sex must be able to result in a child. Hence oral, anal masturbation etc etc are out.

I also agree with Ana because the problem in Africa is digustingly ****ed up. One way to laook at it though is that with such a high amount of AIDS there is the fact that everyone will probably die out and that will fix the problem. I don't mean that in a creul way its just the truth.

HeyYou

Eh, matthew? That only happens if all the people with AIDS keep to themselves entirely and no new infections occur.