Two or Three (.net)

For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. - Jesus

4.19.2005

The new pope has been chosen, let the whining begin

by Unknown [+/-] show/hide

German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger is now Pope Benedict XVI.

Many stories characterize Cardinal Ratzinger as being essentially Pope John Paul II's right hand man. So do not look for any changes in church doctrine.

I found this prediction from TKS a bit like predicting liberals will oppose a given judicial nominee by President Bush. Nevertheless, it makes a good point.

So – how soon after the new Pope is chosen, does some thumb-sucking columnist point to one of the guys who wasn't chosen and lament that the Church has missed a golden opportunity to reach out to constituency X? “In selecting Pope Whoever over Cardinal Arinze, the Cardinals blew a chance to reach out to the African continent.” “By skipping over Cardinal Hummes, Church leaders fumbled a chance to solidify their influence over Latin America.” And if it’s not geography, it will be ideology – “by picking this traditionalist, the Church has ignored its waning influence among Europeans seeking a more progressive voice,” etc.


I haven't had the chance to look yet, but I am sure it has already happened. All of the news shows tonight will be blanketed with stories of the "almost Popes" and how much of any impact they could have made, how great they would have been, how super every thing would be if they would just allow the New York Times editorial staff to chose the Pope.

I pray that Pope Benedict XVI will lead the Catholic church with grace and guidance from the Holy Spirit.

Update: It has already begun.

Update 2: At least they aren't confusing the new pope with Cliff from Cheers like some other news outlets are.

posted by Unknown at 10:47 AM 2 comments

2 Comments:

  • Why should American Catholics who don't believe in abusive religion support a man who clearly does? There are criticisms of Ratzinger that are appropriate.

    (Also, the Cliff Clavin joke was a joke.)

    (And the buffalo theory's a great one.)

    By Blogger The Wilkinsons, at 4/20/2005 5:59 AM  

  • I would hope that American Catholics or African Catholics or European Catholics, etc would support someone who belives in the basic tenets and doctrines of their faith. If you expect a very old tradition based religion to change for the whims of society and polls then I guess you could be upset with his selection.

    (It is ironic that many liberals and super conservative evangelicals end up on the same side of this issue, because many conservative evangelicals do not like the restrictions on married priests, contraceptives and many of the Catholic theology that differs from other branches of Christianity.)

    The Cliff thing is a joke, but if you follow the links. Tuesday there were actual news sites (manly tv stations) that identified the new pope as John Ratzenburger. That would have been an interesting, maybe even uniting choice. ;)

    By Blogger Unknown, at 4/21/2005 8:12 AM  

Post a Comment