Ooooo, boy! No salvation for us non-Catholics!

When I came out of the office for lunch today, I heard the bells ringing and had a feeling it wasn't good news. With the conclave finishing so quickly, I had a feeling it was Ratzinger.

His views on virtually every issue are ultra-conservative (the issues on which he is NOT ultra-conservative, he is simply conservative) and I fear he will undo some of the good that John Paul II had accomplished.

If you ask me, this is a sad day for the world. I hope he proves me wrong.

<center><FONT COLOR="#000080">--- Edited 1 times, lastly by Wyldflower on Apr 19, 2005 ---</FONT></center>

...i'm not feeling very good about it myself...and hope that changes.... but cap zap if not....remember what Mark Twain said...
"I prefer the climate in Heaven and the company in Hell"....

<img src="http://www.arlo.net/ubb/smilies/wink.gif" width=15 height=15>

Yeah, sadly the Catholic Church has made the decision to head towards the more obscene brand of Christian Evangelism, with lots of prosltyzing, homophobia, and condemnation of birth control. The Church is different than when I was a kid, and not for the better.

When I was young, our Church was one of solemn reflection and "watching your own plate." Nowadays, young Christians are loud, obnoxious, and like to pick at the scabs of others. (Many, not all, of course). High fiving each other and screaming about their "awesome God" while having little idea about so many things.

They're well on their way to being good conformist Republicans.

Lately, Do you get the feeling that you've been transported backwards 50 years???
Today I've heard this man described as kind and wise. I just shook my head.............

How can people look for guidance to people that have never lived in the real world..............

It's sad that so many people are so afraid of life and death that they let themselves be so controled.

FEAR....same tactic used by those in office in D.C.
Hey, but that is just my personal opinion.

If there's a good side to it, it's that he won't be pope for decades, just a few years.

He was called the Enforcer of the Faith. Doesn't sound good. W in the Whitehouse and him in the See, spells trouble, IMHO.

Now web sites are calling him Pope Eggs Benedict and Pope Nazi XVI.

I read somewhere he's gonna croak in a few rs anyway being as old as he is...

I don't want to wish anyone dead... and I do want to remind people that it isn't all that uncommon for people to live into their nineties, or even over 100....

It will be what it will be... and it is up to us to keep doing what we're doing to make the world a better place.

Before the elections took place, several national tv news commentators were speculating that an older man would be chosen this time to offset the long "reign" of JP2. I think that might be what Cheryl was referring to.

Yes, I'd heard those comments on the tv and radio...

And yes, it is possible that was a consideration... that an older pope would be less likely to have a long reign...

But 78 isn't really all THAT old! (My mom is 77, and she's likely to be around another 20 years!)

That being said, the important part of my last post was "It is up to us....."

<center><FONT COLOR="#000080">--- Edited 1 times, lastly by Wyldflower on Apr 26, 2005 ---</FONT></center>

I note that many of you have found out what I as a Catholic knew already, that is:

THE AMERICAN MEDIA DOESN'T KNOW A DAMNED THING ABOUT THE CATHOLIC CHURCH!!!

They're so lost without their ability to conduct polls & such. They tried to cover the papal selection process as tho' it were a US political election, even tho' no 2 processes could be more unlike.

Thus, at different times, I heard that the selection process would take a long time, that the Cardinals would elect a young guy, that we might end up with the 1st black Pope ever, etc., & on all counts, the media was wrong, wrong, WRONG!

As I prefer to wait to see what kind of pope Beneduct XVI will be, I have nothing else to add, other than to say that the most profound thing I've read about the subject is this:

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Wyldflower:
It will be what it will be... and it is up to us to keep doing what we're doing to make the world a better place.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

<center><FONT COLOR="#000080">--- Edited 1 times, lastly by P. Pittsburgh Joe on Apr 26, 2005 ---</FONT></center>