How long does the pope have to live

I know it comes down to the 'religion shouldn't be changed just so it suits its followers' but in the end it comes down to interpretation, and I disagree hugely with interpretations of many of the influential Catholics.

that and he was one of the few people who could have kept the church together, at the beginning of his career as pope the church was half an inch away from splitting itself in two, which would have done massive damage.

about his considerations on women and queers, he was a pre WWII polish man, they tend towards the conserative when it comes to gender roles and sexuality.

Almost without exception, new popes are chosen who are radically different from their predecessors. The longer a Pope is in office -- and general consensus is that John Paul II has been in too long, and that the office should have been given to an older man who would die sooner -- the more that's true.

But a couple of pertinent things from those books --

1) The next papal election will be the first, since Cardinals began electing Popes, in which Cardinals over a certain age are not allowed to vote. It's an interesting thing, it's hard to say what effect that will have: on the one hand, normally older = more traditional; on the other, it means no one who was around when Vatican II was put into play has a vote, only the people who've risen in the church in the wake of its piecemeal dismantling. Many of the oldest Cardinals would actually be more liberal -- in some matters -- then their younger counterparts.

(On the other hand, papal electoral politics are complicated, and Cardinals are much more likely to elect Popes they ostensibly disagree with than you would expect.)

2) Many people think the next Pope will be either American or African, since those are two very important parts of geographical Catholicism which have not been represented (or in Africa's case, not in ... I forget how long, but 1400 years? I want to say 6th century. I could be wrong.) The authors of the books disagreed, but one of them said an African would be more likely than an American.

3) It will probably be someone very old, because Popes who remain Pope as long as John Paul II has make the Church nervous.

The pope is still alive, and not a robot. Unlike Bob Hope, who as we all know actually passed away at the age of 98.

man, I never paid attention in religion class when I was in Catholic school & I regret it big time.

JP2's public image, and personality, may be very compassionate and very warm, and those aspects may be reflected in his speeches -- but his actual policy has been pretty hardline reactionary, not only backpedaling Vatican II (a beginning that has been turned into a footnote) but going further to the right than most pre-Vatican II Catholics would have gone -- he is even stricter about birth control, for instance, than Paul VI, and the growing opinion is that P6 made a huge error in coming out against the pill so soon. (Many people believe that Catholic attrition and dissatisfaction are due to Vatican II, but when you look at the numbers, it doesn't actually begin until Paul VI's encyclical against birth control; it isn't necessarily that the laity wanted the pill to be approved, they just don't seem to be happy to have its condemnation quite so quickly and inflexibly).

One person's views (or even the majority view of a gaggle of aging cardinals) shouldn't be influencing what is claimed is the view of god. As he's got older you can see the radical ideas evaporating. Tep is OTM above.

Rather than pick an old pope who won't last too long it shouldn't be an appointment made until death. It was fine in the later middle ages - they died much younger. But to change the process now would be to negate much of the theory behind the position. If they're God's representative on earth, then they can't just be that for a few years and then let someone else take over....

Check out David Yallop's fascinating book "In God's Name" for more (if not always 100% verifiable) details. It's fascinating.

Francis Arinze NIG 3.9
D. Tettamanzi ITA 3.5
C. v Schoenborn AUS 8
JL. Ortega y Alamino CUB 12
O. Rod. Maradiaga HON 15
Giacomo Biffi ITA 16
G. Battista Re ITA 17
Ennio Antonelli ITA 17
Crescenzio Sepe ITA 9
JM. Bergoglio ARG 9
Juan Luis Cipriani ITA 10
D. Castrillion Hoyos COL 38
CM. Martina ITA 17
Claudio Hummes BRA 5.5
Angelo Sodano ITA 23
C. Murphy OConnor ENG 22
Godfried Danneels BEL 11

POPE IS DEAD.

I heard one of the Latin American guys had a good shot.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dionigi_Tettamanzi

There are so many racists in the world, though - surely one of them would try to kill a black pope. I think they're going to shy away from it.

i have a recurring dream about the pope dying. which is funny, because i don't care a whit about the pope.

Not the most handy of images.

"Dang In the name of Jesus, what has that dove been eating?"

(x-post)

But really, I'm very saddened by the prospects of a Church without Pope JPII at the helm. I am quite aware of the fact that JPII hasn't exactly had 100% control of the wheel that's steering the Church over the past couple of years or so, but I do think he still has SOME say over affairs and I think that's a huge reason why the Church hasn't transformed itself into an extremely rigid nightmare a la the "evangelical Christians". Anthony Easton waaaay upthread here is totally right about JPII -- he *was* (and still is, really) one of the most "liberal" popes the Church has had, rivalling Pope John XXIII for number of sweeping changes brought into the Church to make it a faith of and for "the people" and also fiercely defending the sanctity of the Virgin Mary in the face of blatantly anti-woman criticism, from Church higher-ups who cannot stand the thought of a woman being that highly regarded.

I fear for the Church with a new pope. I fear that even a few years with a radically different, more conservative pope will cause the Church to schism once more, causing the more liberal parishes and diocese to disconnect from the rest of the Church and its Roman base. If that happens, however, I will absolutely, unequivocally disconnect myself from the conservative parish I am currently a member of and join with a local "liberal" parish. I already cannot stand the boldly anti-abortion and anti-birth control stance of the parish I currently attend Masses at (it's a Project Rachel hub and displays anti-birth control literature in the front entrance) -- I would not be able to stand it if that sort of voice actually had complete control over the whole of the faith.

There's my eugoogolie right there.

Pope George Ringo I

How long does this guy hafta live, already?!

http://ox.eicat.ca/~scarruthers/ilx/pope-dan.jpg

http://www.beepworld2.de/memberdateien/members16/dieasozialenparasiten/satan_tubbie_3.jpg

Aside from the fucked-up views on sex and gender, the Church's social policies aren't bad.

So did the pope pull through?

http://i.imgur.com/Feqsr.png

the pope's advice is so...obvious. shit, i can do that

why are they doing this

didn't realize it was "@Pontifex" hahaha

ikr when i saw it i thought it was a parody

hey, i'm the pope:

The Lord knows all. Trust in Him and honor Him with your actions. He will always be there for you.
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wait, why didn't the pope capitalize His and He

?????

shit, i can outpope this pope any day of the week

the pope's advice is so...obvious

that's why he's the papa (yes, it really means 'daddy')

you'd think they'd be in multiple languages too

doesnt harry kill the pontifex in book 5

How long does the pope have to live
Before you can call him a pope?

Andreas Prasadja ‏@prasadja

@Pontifex merry Christmas Your Holiness

2h Benedict XVI Benedict XVI ‏@Pontifex

The cribs that we built in our home gave me much pleasure. We added figures each year and used moss for decoration.

why did he decorate his home with mossy cribs? what a weirdo.