Go on...all replies considered....my vote is there is a disgruntled ex-altar boy out there....

OK that is a bit of a joke in his case but....600 years since this happened....I assume he is not a well man....shame...I liked his style.

So....will they choose someone much younger now?

He had a style? I hadn't noticed.

Old? Older? Oldest?

Meet the new boss.

Just like the old boss.

http://www.slate.com..._will_be_a.html

It's important to understand the difference between hope and delusion. Shuffling around who the top mean old man is in a group of mean old men isn't going to change a thing.

The Nazi hunters eventually caught up with him.

He had a style? I hadn't noticed.

Old? Older? Oldest?

Meet the new boss.

Just like the old boss.

http://www.slate.com..._will_be_a.html

It's important to understand the difference between hope and delusion. Shuffling around who the top mean old man is in a group of mean old men isn't going to change a thing.

I'm surprised you didn't notice the subtle nuances on the ex boss.

There are many followers JT....many many millions worldwide. Scary isn't it? Especially given the majority are women!

The Nazi hunters eventually caught up with him.

You should add a link to that comment.

John Paul toughed it out like a normal Pope.

This dude wimped out and creates a weird situation of two living Popes.

Religious people who think these guys can't do anything wrong praise BOTH popes for different reasons: one toughed it out, the other knew when to quit.

Sorry, they can't BOTH be right and praiseworthy.

I think this Pope wimped out.

He's a quitter and he failed at his job's main goals as well: saving the church in Europe.

The Nazi hunters eventually caught up with him.

You should add a link to that comment.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/pope-benedict-dogged-nazi-past-achievements-jewish-relations/story?id=18469350

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/vaticancityandholysee/5314338/Dont-mention-the-Popes-Hitler-Youth-past-says-the-Vatican.html

Being a wee bit odd,

Look at the poor guy, he is old, infirm etc. Kudos to him to have done it. must have taken a lot of balls to have made that decision.

And now he shall live the rest of his life in a tiny room in the Vatican reading. Never to be seen again.

Hope they get a black one.........

He is old and failing, has had a pacemaker for several years.... wasn't resigning the sensible thing to do? And doesn't setting a precedent show his wisdom?

Frankly, I wish John Paul had done it, too.

A black pope? Well, why not? One thing I predict, and that is that the next Pope will be under 70 (and there are two African 'papabile' in that bracket).

The precedent was ALREADY set. If you check the history it was done before by some very questionable Popes. His Pope-dom failed. He had clear goals. He failed. And he couldn't even finish just showing up for the job. Part of the EXPECTATION of a Pope is to die on the job as well. It is not a comfortable thing to have two living popes and again the history shows it is a bad idea. Again if John Paul showed a great lesson in human suffering and decline, this guy showed a great lesson in not meeting expectations.

I'm curious as to what will happen to the (originally secret) agreement that the USA wouldn't prosecute a pope for covering up priests buggering little boys and, indeed, did doing nothing to curtail the abuse. The agreement was clearly put in place to protect Ratzinger. When he resigns he'll no longer be pope. Will the USA finally bring him to justice? I certainly hope so.

The precedent was ALREADY set. If you check the history it was done before by some very questionable Popes. His Pope-dom failed. He had clear goals. He failed. And he couldn't even finish just showing up for the job. Part of the EXPECTATION of a Pope is to die on the job as well. It is not a comfortable thing to have two living popes and again the history shows it is a bad idea. Again if John Paul showed a great lesson in human suffering and decline, this guy showed a great lesson in not meeting expectations.

I don't normally 'flame' posters, but here you are condemning a man for quitting when his policies failed, elsewhere you praise Obama, who has inflicted his failed policies on the American people again.

Two wrong decisions.

He got tired of everyone liking the Dalai Lama better than him.

There was always some fishy about this Pope.

The Nazi youth youth with later hints of that trying to elevate a rabid anti-semite.

The running the modern version of the INQUISITION office.

The scandalous protection and privacy protection of priest pederast criminals.

I don't think history will be kind to this one. Good riddance, quitter!

The precedent was ALREADY set. If you check the history it was done before by some very questionable Popes. His Pope-dom failed. He had clear goals. He failed. And he couldn't even finish just showing up for the job. Part of the EXPECTATION of a Pope is to die on the job as well. It is not a comfortable thing to have two living popes and again the history shows it is a bad idea. Again if John Paul showed a great lesson in human suffering and decline, this guy showed a great lesson in not meeting expectations.

Since the last Pope to resign was 600 years ago, I think it's reasonable to call Benedict XVI's resignation a precedent.

Who are you to EXPECT anything of a Pope? You want the Church to change, and when it changes one little thing, you complain. History shows.... you should read your history a little more carefully. There have been 'antipopes', but that's not quite the same thing.

Incidentally, I seem to remember there has been a black pope before now, but can't put my hands on the reference. Of course, as I'm sure you know, the General of the Jesuits is known colloquially as 'the Black Pope".

Any Pope becomes a global leader, not just a church leader. They go around and yes they act like they're preaching to the entire world. That's who I am. A person in the world.

To spend more time with his family.

“Thus, I must step down from the papacy,” he added. “But let me assure every member of the Church that the Vatican’s commitment to narrow-mindedness and social obstruction will long live on after my departure.”

Word of Benedict’s resignation—the first for a sitting pope in nearly 600 years—reportedly stunned the world’s Catholic faithful, many of whom believed the German-born pontiff still had years of stymieing female advancement in Church roles, opposing stem cell research, and inflaming tensions with Jews, Muslims, and Anglicans left in him.

http://www.theonion.com/articles/resigning-pope-no-longer-has-strength-to-lead-chur,31248/

“Thus, I must step down from the papacy,” he added. “But let me assure every member of the Church that the Vatican’s commitment to narrow-mindedness and social obstruction will long live on after my departure.”

Word of Benedict’s resignation—the first for a sitting pope in nearly 600 years—reportedly stunned the world’s Catholic faithful, many of whom believed the German-born pontiff still had years of stymieing female advancement in Church roles, opposing stem cell research, and inflaming tensions with Jews, Muslims, and Anglicans left in him.

http://www.theonion....ead-chur,31248/

Naughty boy! Go and say a few Hail Mary's!

Funny though.

Any Pope becomes a global leader, not just a church leader. They go around and yes they act like they're preaching to the entire world. That's who I am. A person in the world.

Not the whole world. Only to anyone who wants to listen.

When it comes to issues such as women's rights or stem cell research they offer opinions which are largely ignored in many countries nowadays.

The Catholic Church has a lot of modernising to do if it is to survive in the coming centuries I think.

The current Pope was, I think, the oldest ever elected. I don't think most people expected him to be anything more than a caretaker, carrying on the policies of John Paul II, whom he had worked with for many years. What most people didn't realise, though Benedict did, was the extent of the child abuse scandal which John Paul had swept under the carpet.

Last time we got a caretaker Pope, we got John XXIII, who caused a revolution in the Church with Vatican II. the legacy of that is ongoing, but needs to be strengthened and reinforced by a strong leader who has a reasonable time to work in (John was old when he started, and only lived a few years more). If we get that.... and there's no knowing who a conclave will elect.... I think you will see fairly rapid modernisation. You won't, and shouldn't , see instant change, though.

Oh, please, this current Pope stacked the deck with his picks which will elect the new Pope. How do we know he isn't pulling strings directly even now for the next pick?

Popes tend to choose cardinals who reflect their own views; John Paul II certainly did. When conclave time comes, though, it doesn't work out quite like that.

There's an old saying, "He who enters the conclave a Pope comes out a Cardinal." Remember John XXIII, John Paul I? Both totally unexpected choices.

But never mind, JT, you'd manage to find fault with anything the Catholic Church does!

I don't admire the Catholic church, that is true. But they are a major force in the entire world so they can't be ignored. I think the chances are very remote of a more "progressive" new pope.

The political dynamic of having a living pope when there is a vote for a new pope is just weird.

Isn't it time the whole thing was disbanded?

My best guess is that this pope decided the only way he could make himself stand out is by doing something that hasn't been done in 600 years.

I guess you can tell I will never kiss the pope's ring. If there is a god then he would be p1ssed off seeing a man worshipped instead of god. Didn't jesus have something to say about that at some point? no idolatry, no worshipping man, no goldern calves, worship god alone?

Anyway, I feel sorry for those that stick to the catholics laws and live a less life because of it.

Sorry folks, this guy and his brethren get me wound up, thats all.

pope.bmp

One of the "esteemed" cardinals who will be selecting the next pope:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-sins-of-cardinal-mahony/2013/02/13/2dc2050c-6fa1-11e2-ac36-3d8d9dcaa2e2_story.html

ELEVEN AMERICANS will be among the 117 cardinals of the Catholic Church heading soon to Rome to select the next pope. One of them, Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, for a quarter-century the archbishop of Los Angeles, is lucky not to be in prison, for there is no dispute that he orchestrated what amounted to a cover-up of clerical sexual abuse in Los Angeles.

By now it is familiar news, though no less stomach-turning, that top officials in the Catholic Church protected pedophile priests for decades — impeding criminal investigations, shuffling offenders to new parishes or abroad, and resisting disclosure. In so doing, they exhibited little concern for victims of sex abuse, usually boys.

So what is the church's excuse for not cleaning house?

Good old reliable Jingthing! You can be sure of a positive spin if it's about gay rights in the US or Thailand, or about Obama and the Democrats, and a negative spin if it's about religion, especially the Catholic Church.

No, I am not going to respond to every slur you choose to cast on the Church. I'm sure you'll have a fine few weeks until the conclave digging up the dirt!

Crimen Sollicitationis

Good old reliable Jingthing! You can be sure of a positive spin if it's about gay rights in the US or Thailand, or about Obama and the Democrats, and a negative spin if it's about religion, especially the Catholic Church.

No, I am not going to respond to every slur you choose to cast on the Church. I'm sure you'll have a fine few weeks until the conclave digging up the dirt!

I don't think that link is a slur. I share the opinion of the article that the Cardinal in question should be in prison, not electing a new pope. You choose to play personality games rather than deal with the issues in question. Not very convincing.

Good old reliable Jingthing! You can be sure of a positive spin if it's about gay rights in the US or Thailand, or about Obama and the Democrats, and a negative spin if it's about religion, especially the Catholic Church.

No, I am not going to respond to every slur you choose to cast on the Church. I'm sure you'll have a fine few weeks until the conclave digging up the dirt!

I don't think that link is a slur. I share the opinion of the article that the Cardinal in question should be in prison, not electing a new pope. You choose to play personality games rather than deal with the issues in question. Not very convincing.

Perfectly valid post by you JT. There was and still is also enough evidence to charge Herr Rat which is why he had no other option that to play the totally fallacious 'head of state' card some 2-3 years back in order to visit Ireland and the UK. The Vatican has for many decades existed in a 'state' non state' mist while they ducked and dived in shadows of their own making and this has never been tested in court. The last thing they wanted to do was fall on one side or the other because it would require the use of their 'get out of jail free' card but they were left with no option.... or rather Herr Rat was left with no option. He is now required to fall on his sword and retire in an effort to slow the noose which surrounds the Catholic Church.

Still well on topic and in relation to JT's point earlier about the Vatican shielding those who who should be in jail...

The outgoing head of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Benedict XVI, has hinted he will withdraw into seclusion after stepping down at the end of this month.

[..]

However, he is expected to spend his retirement in a monastery at the Vatican [..]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21458783

He's going into hiding so expect something big to come out fairly soon.