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Pope Benedict surprises… — 20 Comments

  1. I’m with the Anchoress: John Paul was a great pope and a great man, but personally I’ve felt closer to Benedict. Maybe it’s just as simple as being more like him. His theological writings certainly go as deep as one can go. Parts of his encyclical Deus Caritas Est (God Is Love) are very beautiful to me. I couldn’t help being surprised that this 80-year-old celibate could speak so evocatively of romantic love.

  2. My wife sleeps a little later than I do, and has the all-news station on snooze-alarm. When I came in to see if she was up yet, she told me she had a dream that the pope resigned.

  3. I’ve already had a co-worker refer to him as a friend of child molesters, which is a bit like calling Lincoln a slave-owner. I can only imagine what the media says.

    The Anchoress is quite right about his writing. He writes like a teacher of students, not like an academic trying to impress other academics.

  4. On a funny note: Another co-worker noted that among the possible new popes are a couple who are not only ultra-orthodox but very outspoken. I wonder what the media would do with a “conservative” pope from Africa or Asia?

  5. Can we expect the Catholic change with the next Pope? I don’t really think so. Cardinal Marc Ouellet, formerly the archbishop of Quebec City, has the best odds of replacing Pope Benedict XVI, but he is an extremely conservative man who will definitely not want the Catholic church to change. He is expected to be a carbon copy Pope Benedict XVI.

  6. I remember when he spoke at the funeral of Pope John Paul II. At the time I was more inclined to absorb the mainstream media mischaracterizations of Joseph Raztinger (soon to become Pope Benedict) as God’s Rotweiller, etc.

    When I actually heard him speak, I was amazed at his gentle clarity and realized he was not at ALL like he had been painted in the press. I have basically been hanging on his every word since.

    As The Anchoress and others have pointed out, Benedict is a towering intellectual (like Pope John Paul II had been) but he is a teacher at heart and he has an extraordinarily ability to explain Church teachings in a manner that is accessible to all, from very young children to adult scholars.

    I particularly like the book God and the World, in which he was interviewed by the journalist (and fellow German) Peter Seewald. Another book in the same format is Light of the World.

    I had the misfortune of hearing this monumental news while watching Morning Joe on MSNBC this morning and one of the first things talking head and Catholic Mike Barnicle did was jump in and start “pontificating” (sorry) about Benedict’s legacy, future of the Church, etc.

    Totally and typically clueless, and the mainstream media coverage has just gotten worse as the day has gone on.

  7. German talkshows are giving lots of space to lefty Catholics who are talking about the next pope who will have to deal with bringing the church into today’s world. Women want more of a voice. Birth control must be addressed. There must be more outreach to other religions. Blah, blah, blah.

    There was even a repeat of a program about Benedict’s election. It was heavy on conspiracies about conservative groups like Opus Dei. I guess they committed voting fraud.

  8. “There was even a repeat of a program about Benedict’s election. It was heavy on conspiracies about conservative groups like Opus Dei. I guess they committed voting fraud.”

    Did they suggest Jimmy Carter monitor the next election?

  9. Neo,

    The Germans wouldn’t even have to commit voter fraud.

    George,

    Don’t put any ideas in their heads.

  10. southpaw, I am an evangelical. But the first thing I thought of today when I heard that the pope was stepping down was the story my Baptist preacher Uncle mentioned some years ago about a belief in certain Catholic circles that the next pope would be a “false pope”. Sounded like what in evangelical cirlces is known as the “antichrist’, though the Muslim expectation of Mahdi and his side kick Issa seems to fit the bill to a certain extent also. Interesting times.

  11. No to go negative but…. as an agnostic who is not anti-religion but anti-“Oracle” (and the it’s hard to fathom a larger one than the Pope) I have a great deal of difficulty reconciling the many great and good deeds performed by the sincerely devoted with the decades coverups from the highest levels of the church. If you’re not blinded by devotion, it’s hard to cheer for “management” where the church is concerned.

    shrug..

  12. “” have a great deal of difficulty reconciling the many great and good deeds performed by the sincerely devoted with the decades coverups from the highest levels of the church.””

    You must not have heard how early Communist infiltrators setup the logistics support for homosexuals and other easily blackmailed people in the Vatican, for a future Soviet op then.

  13. “I’ve already had a co-worker refer to him as a friend of child molesters”

    If the co worker is a Leftist member, then he had more to do with installing homosexuals and child molesters in the Vatican.

  14. Sorry Ymarksakar. I’m not buying. there are so many flaws in the logic of this argument that I don’t even know where to begi, but try this on. Assuming you’re 100% correct. Why protect them at all and who continue so long after the fall of the SU?

  15. As a Catholic I have been shocked & scandalized by the abuse that went on & the official behavior to hide it & sweep it under the rug. The Church lost a huge, huge amount of moral authority
    it will take 100 years to get it back & that is only if they decide to operate above board from now on.
    My husband & I used to have conversations about it. I remember
    us saying “where can a gay man, who is a pedophile,or just gay & into going to rest areas, get a job that gives him access to boys, & he never has to worry about the pretense of a wife, & he can draw a salary, possibly have a wine cellar & oriental rugs & drive a new Buick.” Sad that a calling that was instituted to emulate Christ became so tainted.
    If there was no request for absolution then there must be a very hot section of Hell reserved for these sinners.

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