Laaaaaaaame
Well, Ratzinger is the new Pope. I'm not going to get into all the business about whether he's too conservative or whatever. He's a Catholic Cardinal. Of course, he's conservative. He (really!) believes in his Church's teachings. Fine.
What does bother me is the fact that he's 78. So, the Church learned nothing from this whole JPII business, huh? I mean, wasn't the big argument in favor of JPII's greatness that he came in relatively young and left a big mark? This Ratzinger has what? Three, maybe five years before complete senility sets in? Then we're going to have go through this whole goddamn thing again. The death. The funeral. The media. The conclave. Ugh. Count me out.
What does bother me is the fact that he's 78. So, the Church learned nothing from this whole JPII business, huh? I mean, wasn't the big argument in favor of JPII's greatness that he came in relatively young and left a big mark? This Ratzinger has what? Three, maybe five years before complete senility sets in? Then we're going to have go through this whole goddamn thing again. The death. The funeral. The media. The conclave. Ugh. Count me out.
7 Comments:
I totally agree. I personally would be offended to be elected pope at 78. It sends the message that they want me out fast. I would say no thanks.
Yeah, as if the position isn't rather thankless to begin with, you now have to contend with being on a deathwatch for during your entire time as Pope.
What I've heard is he's being viewed as a "transitional pope." So they basically said "Hey, you'll be dead soon, want to be pope while we look for someone better?"
Sucks to be him.
I found this an interesting passage from Hugh Hewitt's blog.
"Pope Benedict is 78, which may lead some to conclude he is a "transitional" pope. Perhaps. But even if he is blessed with only a half-dozen years as leader, recognize that the College of Cardinals will be undergoing enormous change in the next few years. By my count, 48 of the cardinal-electors are 74 or older, meaning they will not vote on the next pope if the new one reigns for a half dozen years. Pope Benedict's selections as their successors --I believe the number of elector cardinals (who must be under 80) is limited to 120-- will guide the Roman Catholic Church well into the next century, and I expect those successors will be very much in the theological mold of John Paul II and Benedict XVI."
Andrew Sullivan, that wacky gay, dissident Catholic had this good line about Ratzinger:
"This is the religious equivalent of having had four terms of George W. Bush only to find that his successor as president is Karl Rove."
Hah.
The catholic church is interested in change, they just don't think they're ready to do it yet. they wanted an old pope. The next pope is going to be the African pope or the one who allows women priests or whatever. They just don't feel they're ready to tackle it yet. At least they're conceding that they're willing to tackle it soon. They could have picked someone conservative and young and been like -- that that change, it's gonna be 25 more years before we get to you!
Anyway, the Catholic church is more than happy to go through it all again -- the death, the conclave and all that -- because it's great publicity! You'd think we lived in a Catholic country. It's on 24 hours a day. And it all looks really cool. Millions of people having a religious experience in beautiful Rome -- I want to be there. It makes me want to lapse Catholic again. Secret Cardinal meetings, Pope speculation -- how cool! They can't wait for Catholicism to take over your TV again in 5-10 years. They have you guys talking about it and what do you care about the Catholic church on any other Tuesday?
I think it's a wise choice for them. Also, they believe their choices are given to them by the Holy Spirit. So it's not like you can argue this politically.
Plus this guy didn't want to be Pope, he was planning on retiring to the countryside and writing books. I love the idea of reluctant leaders, how Platonic. Democracy doesn't allow such a thing as reluctant leadership, but it's the only way to know you're getting someone honest.
The church just ended a very long term relationship. It isn't ready for a big commitment yet, but it still doesn't want to be alone.
Pope Benedict is the rebound pope. Just a fling until the church decides what it really wants.
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