There is a new Pope

[Provost Harrison]

He was a colossal pervert you know

[Agathon]

This Pope's like the Bishop of Bath and Wells on Blackadder II

"Your bottom will wish it had never been born!!"

[Provost Harrison]

[Agathon]

"Screamed he did, as they skewered his catflap."

[Capt Dizle]

Is this the white smoke thread. I think I remember that Greek guy getting elected Pope? The fiddler on the roof?

[St Leo]

Judge not a book by its cover.

[Capt Dizle]

He does look a bit of the dark side for a Pope, doesn't he. Would anyone hire him to play Santa. I think not.

[Ned]

Originally posted by Oerdin


I'm not sure about which was married but Laz reported about loads of them who were pedophiles. Ass raping little boys seems to be a solid Catholic tradition.

St. Peter was the first married pope. He was also the first pope.

Also his real name was Simon, not Peter. Christ apparently gave him the title Peter (the Rock), thus beginning the tradition of adopting a name upon becoming the head of the church.

Rodrigo Borgia had for children when he became pope.

[Capt Dizle]

Kiril Lakota, that was the guy's name.

[Dr Strangelove]

Originally posted by Oerdin


I can't help it if the truth hurts. There were tons and tons of pedophile Popes. The Church still has this problem and the current Pope is on record as saying the whole problem has been invented by communists, atheists, and Jews. Lovely...

Did he actually say "Jews"? If he did that's really disturbing.

[Dinner]

I can't find the actual quote but NPR has been running a brief speil on the new Pope during which Ratzinger is quoted as saying there was no sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church and then claimed that it was all being made up and propetuated by Communists, Athiests, and other religions. I'm not sure what he means by other religions but it seems to me that Jews or Muslims are the only candidates.

Also since he was talking about the people in the media going after the Catholic Church I doubt it would be Muslims since there are no large Muslim controlled media organizations in the country. People frequently claim Jews control the media though that's why I'm thinking he was refering to Jews.

[Barinthus]

My issue with this pope:

When Ratzinger said on Monday that "to have a clear faith according to the church's creed is today often labeled fundamentalism," his words were undoubtedly welcomed by religious conservatives far outside the ranks of the Catholic Church. One can also imagine that liberals of various stripes shuddered.

And in his role as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, he has made a name stamping out dissent, convinced that when voiced in public, it was destructive to the church.

He publicly cautioned Europe against admitting Turkey to the European Union and wrote a letter to bishops around the world justifying that stand on the grounds that the continent is essentially Christian in nature.

In another letter to bishops worldwide, he decried a sort of feminism that makes women "adversaries" of men.

[Dinner]

It also seems that as Grand Inquisitor Ratzinger was the one who came up with the idea of denying John Kerry the sacrements because Kerry said he was personally against abortion but would not move to outlaw it. Ratzinger later expanded this idea by publicly stating politicians who don't follow church doctrine (on things like birth control & abortion) could be excommunicated.

http://www.priestsforlife.org/magisterium/bishops/04-07ratzingerommunion.htm

[Agathon]

People frequently claim Jews control the media

If that were true, we would have found the cure for anti-semitism. TV is so crap that anti-semitism is obviously caused by public rage and resentment at having to pick between The Bachelor and American Idol.

Legislating televisual improvements would instantly transform the Jews into world heroes.

Were it so easy.

[Dinner]

From the previously linked Wiekpedia article.

Before becoming pope, Ratzinger was known for his stance that involved United States politics. During the 2004 presidential campaign, he expressed the view that people would be "cooperating in evil" if they backed a political candidate because he or she supports abortion rights or euthanasia [1] (http://wireservice.wired.com/wired/s...=wn_wire_story).

Regarding the scandal of sexual abuse by priests in the United States, he was sometimes seen by critics as minimizing the abuse. In 2002 he told Catholic News Service that "less than 1 percent of priests are guilty of acts of this type." [2] (http://ncronline.org/NCR_Online/arch...03/011003j.htm) Opponents saw this as ignoring the crimes committed by those who did abuse; others saw it as merely pointing out that this should not taint other priests who live respectable lives.

Other controversial statements include a 1987 statement that Jewish history and scripture reach fulfillment only in Christ – a statement critics denounced as "theological anti-Semitism." Other religious groups found offense to a 2000 document in which he argued that, "Only in the Catholic church is there eternal salvation." [3] (http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...E39835,00.html)

Gay rights advocates have widely criticized his letter to the Bishops of the church in 1986, On the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons in which he stated that homosexuality is a “strong tendency ordered toward an intrinsic moral evil; and thus the inclination itself must be seen as an objective disorder.” In an earlier letter dated September 30, 1985, Ratzinger reprimanded Seattle Archbishop Raymond Hunthausen for his liberal views on women, gays, and doctrinal issues, stating, "The Archdiocese should withdraw all support from any group, which does not unequivocally accept the teaching of the Magisterium concerning the intrinsic evil of homosexual activity." Archbishop Hunthausen was temporarily relieved of his authority [4]