The Pope Resigns

BBC News - Pope Benedict XVI in shock resignation

Wow. This was unexpected.

I thought I heard wrong this morning. Let the conspiracies begin!

And jokes.

Ex-Benedict leads the pack out of the gate.

I'm sure he just wants to spend more time with his family.

Good riddance. It'll be interesting to see what sort of replacement they come up with. I can see a more liberal one with a much less hardline stance on homosexuality given the current climate of changing marriage equality laws and whatnot.

Pretty classy move, not staying on as a vegetable.

-t

What exactly does a retired pope do? Go fishing?

I'd like to see that, but I'm not holding my breath. The higher ups in the Catholic Church are old men, who are hardened in their ways, and who believe that they're right, and the rest of the world, no matter how much they're outmatched is wrong. Changing views in society have nothing to do with their beliefs.

Ratzinger has put a lot of backwards-oriented people into high positions, rekindled his relationship with radical groups such as the Society of St. Pius (whose members were excommunicated by John Paul II) and Opus Dei. More liberal critics such as his long-time colleague at Tübingen University Küng are still shunned (his missio canonica is still revoked). I don't think there is any sign for movement in a »more liberal« direction.

He's going to live with seven virgins in a castle.

No kidding- good riddance to bad rubbish. The former Hitler youth should have never been in charge in the first place.

Good for him! We should all be so lucky. :)

Shit in the woods.

*like*

Wholeheartedly agree, here. The RCC is most definitely not becoming more inclusive of liberal ideals.

On the topic of Catholicism, I want to point out there is no rule which says you need to keep the smudge on.

Just a friendly reminder.

And just to be clear, »liberal« in the context of the Catholic church should not be confused with the way we use »liberal« in other contexts (especially in the US). It seems to be a liberal position to officially allow Catholics to use condoms and to fully cooperate with the authorities when it comes to cases of child abuse.

I can't speak for other countries, but the official stances of the Catholic Church have moved that much farther away from the opinions of political main stream in Germany that they are really on the fringe of a fringe right now. And they complain very vocally that they feel the pressure and the »hate« from the press (e. g. after they have decided to stop cooperating with researchers in order to deal with the abuse cases).

I have a ****ing pączki hangover.

He's resigning because Catholics aren't allowed to use Viagra. Just no point anymore to asking alter boys to bend over and pick up that pen he "accidentally" dropped.

Classy.

I'm not a fan of just lambasting the guy, but if he really is responsible for covering up so much of the clergy's global sexual abuse, he's pretty much the lowest type of scum.

Sounds familiar.

While this is true, the bar's been set high with "shit in the woods", and oP didn't bring his A-game.

Don't tell me where the bar is set, I set it there! /dramatic delivery

Yeah. I forgot that part.

Never mind.

I have little to no respect for Ratzinger, and little more for the historic role of the RCC, but there are bishops and perish priests who care and gladly devote their lives to the underprivileged. I donated to one mission because I knew the priest was a caring and honorable man who worked tirelessly day and night to care for the people who came to him in need. He was reassigned because he refused to hand over donations to the central Church for "redistribution", because he needed them here. I went to the wall for him, even met with the sitting bishop and tried to convince him that the RCC was making a grave mistake replacing him, but it didn't help. Now he's shuffling paperwork in Toronto and I no longer give them a dime, because the idiot they installed after him would rather play golf and host "local fitness week" than help the poor and homeless. (He turned the shelter into a gym, I shit you not.) They freaked out, because they lost 1/3 of their yearly donations, because we quit giving. I told them I'd start up again if they bring the other man back, and increase the amount by 25%, but they told me that they "wouldn't be bribed by anyone". Screw them.

There are many good men and women in that organization, but the Church itself is little more than a den of thieves.

You reap what you sow. This pope was about as far from classy as one can get. The man is an absolute jackass.

Just like any other political party then. Cathos, Jews, Muslims, Lizard worshippers ... all the same.

I was really hoping people would call him "Ratzo".

I always liked Papa Ratzi.

-t

Here's a first century idea finally catching up to the 21st century RCC:

New Pope should allow priests to marry, says Cardinal O'Brien - Telegraph

That's a slippery slope to gay priest marriage.

Think of the children.

Married priests will happen, I've known it for decades, however the wheels of the RCC beast turn very slowly.

It's good to know how tolerable of those with different values you are. I'm not catholic, but there's no reason to be tasteless...especially if that's the fashionable viewpoint to hold these days.

More shit may have hit the fan. If even partially true, it shows the depths of depravity and hypocrisy of the Catholic Church.

La Repubblica reports existence of underground gay network at Vatican.

Hypocrisy? Yes. Depravity? Not so much. They're humans, they have needs. Once they get up to speed with social norms, these issues will largely take care of themselves. According to doctrine, active homosexuality is immoral and a disorder, but that's been their position for almost 1800 years. I'm not seeing how they can change that without unraveling the entire fabric of the Church. Odds are, what will ultimately become of this is an organization-wide purge of gay clergy, with many secret McCarthyesque hearings. This will leave them in quite a fix, possibly losing 20% of their number, which they won't be able to replace. Or can they? This may leave them ripe for change on the issue of female deacons and priests, due to sheer necessity.

I'm starting to get pissed off with this generation of fake journalists.

S-Y-D-N-E-Y. SYDNEY, Australia.

Sure. You don't bother to check spelling, but I'm sure you check your sources.

Did anyone hear about the arrest warrant issues for Ratzinger?

Huh? NO- what's going on?

Pretty good source her, and the state apologizes, but the church? Don't hold your breath.

Irish Women Emerge From Shadows Of 'National Shame' : NPR

Seems it probably is just a rumour.

Online Rumor Claims Pope Resigned Over Arrest Warrant in Sex Abuse Scandal

The funny part is, Cardinal O'Brien is accused of inappropriate (gay) behaviour.

Conspiracy theory 1: O'Brien is being accused of bad behaviour to minimize his influence at the Papal conclave.

Conspiracy theory 2: Ratzo stepped down early to personally influence the conclave an ensure an appropriately conservative Pope is selected.

Aaaand... He's gone.

BBC News - As it happened: Cardinal Keith O'Brien resigns

Its interesting its being spun that way. Apparently he resigned back in November and it was due to take effect next month after the vote. The Pope has allegedly decided to make it effective today instead.

To me that sounds more like he was fired but there you go.

Anyone else remember when SWG claimed that the Catholic church was little more than a cover for gay priest sex orgies?

edit: Found it

Are we talking about pedophilia here?

What are Ratzinger's values WRT pedophilia?

Whatever he's done (I'll admit to not keeping score), I'm sure he believes the ends justify the means.

That's only invoked when you realize the, ahem... sin of the means.

Unless Ratzinger a pedophile himself (for which I've seen zero evidence), I am almost 100% positive he has just as much problem with pedophilia as everyone else here.


To be clear, if my analysis is correct, I think his belief the ends justify the means in this context is severely deluded. I'm in no way trying to justify it.

How do I put this? Ratzinger = Penn State

"...and the other's a church."


That's just the punch-line. I'm too lazy to do the setup.