"Quite frankly, we don't care what you people think. We're not being dominated by the media."
—Cardinal Aloysius Ambrozic, archbishop of Toronto, on the media uproar over Benedict's election
News Clips: April 2005 Archives
Books by Pope Benedict have knocked The Da Vinci Code off Amazon's bestseller list! Thanks be to God!
Pope Benedict XVI will strive during his tenure to re-Christianize Europe by making the way for greater religious freedom on the continent and then converting millions of the Muslims who now populate the area, asserts geopolitical analyst Jack Wheeler.
A tall order indeed! But a worthy one.
The Pope's email is open; it's BenedictXVI@vatican.va.
I wonder how much spam he'll get.
"Allen described Ratzinger as a shy and gentle person whose former students speak of him as one of the best-prepared and most-caring professors they ever encountered."
Deo Gratias! Habemus papam, and he is Cardinal Ratzinger. I think it is safe to say that, doctrinally, there will be no unpleasant surprises. I think this election, quick and decisive as it was, sends a message to dissenters: "Don't even THINK about thinking anything is going to change." Though at the same time, he clearly will be a transitional pope, and hopefully no one, grasping for straws, will suggest that this means that the Cardinals would be unable to agree on a conservative cardinal who would last much longer (i.e. a younger one). I'm not sure why they wanted a transitional pope; some say they want things to "slow down" and rest for a while after JPTG. Although, given JP's health problems, there was plenty of slowing down in the latter years; isn't it time to get something done again?
I've heard that he is a kindly, humble, somewhat bookish and professorial character, definitely a contrast to the charismatic JPTG. This coincides with the theory that the cardinals want to rest now. (This is why Ratzinger was not my top choice.)
Well at the very least he will carry on the doctrinal legacy of John Paul II.
A news article about the pope amused me somewhat; it said, "Many blame Ratzinger for decrees from Rome barring Catholic priests from counseling pregnant teens on their options and blocking German Catholics from sharing communion with their Lutheran brethren at a joint gathering in 2003." As if the outcome would have been different if he hadn't been involved! Do they really think JPTG would have allowed any other options? Do they really expect it is realistic to expect the church to allow priests to counsel teens to do something we believe is grievously immoral? Do they think Ratzinger could have overturned four hundred, five hundred years of church division? What morons.
In any case, kudos to then-Cardinal Ratzinger for standing firm in the face of opposition.
Anyway, this Pope Benedict thing is going to take some getting used to, that's for sure.
ZENIT.org has some definitive numbers on the funeral and accompanying rites that are very interesting. "Three million people came to Rome to attend John Paul II's funeral rites" (which I expect, based on other data, encompasses much more than the funeral). "There were 169 foreign delegations present, as well as 10 monarchs, 59 heads of state, 3 heirs to the throne, 17 heads of government, 3 spouses of heads of state, 8 vice heads of state, 6 deputy prime ministers, 4 presidents of parliaments, 12 foreign-affairs ministers, 13 other governmental ministers, 24 ambassadors, and 10 presidents, directors-general and secretaries-general of international organizations.
"Also present were delegations of 23 Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox Churches, 8 Churches and ecclesial communions of the West, and 3 international Christian organizations.
"In addition, there were several delegations and officials of Judaism, and 17 delegations of non-Christian religions and organizations for interreligious dialogue."
Man, talk about a terrorist draw. Blow that up, and you not only mess up the world big time, you throw the Catholic Church into utter confusion. I'm glad nothing happened though.
A Yahoo article on the papal contenders said, "Also Friday, workmen installed a chimney on the roof of the Sistine Chapel for the famous smoke signals that will indicate whether a new pope has been elected." What's with this? As if there hadn't been a chimney there for centuries? Really strange!
This article claimed half the cardinals support Ratzinger and half support liberal Carlo Maria Martini. I thought he was washed up years ago. I find it hard to believe that half this group would support a liberal and I suspect this article doesn't know what it is talking about. If it is really true that half want a liberal pope and half want a conservative pope, then we're in for a long conclave.
A talk show host on a Christian radio station was fired for casting aspersions on the Pope's salvation.
Apparently he doesn't think it's possible that the Pope was "born again". I'd argue that he's not qualified to make the determination that he wasn't, although he could point to evidence pro and con.
God help us.... all I have to say is, wow.
The ironic thing, usually at Papal Masses, they either bring lots of hosts in from elsewhere, or other priests consecrate the hosts. It's very hard to get a host consecrated from the Pope's altar.
There is a halfway decent article on "orthodox" Catholics in Lincoln, Nebraska (Bruskewitz's territory) in the Boston Globe, of all places. There is I am sure an element of "let's pick the most embarassing quote to put into the article" (I was unhappy about someone's attack on a priest who said that all people, including gays, are welcome in the church) but overall it was not bad for the Globe.
I am reading a tedious harangue from a liberal about how much John Paul supposedly screwed up the church, and I found an interesting claim: "The priesthood is shrinking, thanks at least in part to the prohibition against marriage and against ordaining women."
He makes it sound like something John Paul foisted on the the church. Funny, this prohibition (on conjugal relations) has been in place universally for over 800 years, and in many areas has effectively been in place for 1500 years or longer. The prohibition on women has been in place 2000 years. And the church has flourished even with the prohibitions. What do you think changed? What caused the decline in vocations? It certainly wasn't the church, that's for sure.
The problem is intolerance (ha! I feel good saying that). People cannot tolerate celibacy anymore, because we've become a sex-saturated culture. People can't tolerate an all-male priesthood because of the influence of feminism. That's what's changed. For all the liberal talk about tolerance, you'd think they'd tolerate our culture and traditions. Maybe I should mention that when someone brings this subject up: "Do you believe in tolerance? You do? Do you believe in affirming a group's ancient traditions? You do? Then why do you complain about clerical celibacy and the all-male priesthood?"
It's going to be hard to deal with a culture that opposes celibacy as strongly as this culture does. It may be that something has to give, that we have to either yield on this point or have an intractable situation. Celibacy is only a discipline so it is possible to change, and as a Byzantine Catholic I've met many married Catholic priests. But let's put the blame where it belongs.
From CNN:
Talking Jesus dolls planned
Report: Company also plans dolls of Mary and Moses at start, and up to five new Bible dolls a year.
04/12/05 06:46 AM, EDT
A talking Jesus doll is due in stores in May, along with versions of Moses and the Virgin Mary, according to a published report Tuesday.
FULL STORY
Two-thirds of American Catholics classify John Paul as "one of history's greatest pontiffs." Another 21% say that he was great, but not among the greatest.
Well, count me among the majority.
The pope is in "very serious condition." Apparently he suffered from (and recovered from) heart failure. Please pray for him!
You know things are bad when the Vatican officially says that the Pope's in "very serious condition", although this is a refreshing change from days when "deny, deny, deny" was the modus operandi.
I notice that the Pope has refused admission to the hospital thus far. I wonder if that is a desire to die without extraordinary means or just avoiding it as much as possible if it's unnecessary.
I hope it's not too disrespectful to say I wish there was a paging service that would page me when his condition changes or he goes to receive his (abundant) reward.
