white smoke...

[Guest lulamishka]

What did Negrodamus say, I wonder?

LOL

[Guest slamminshaun]

I'm just impressed with the choice they made. Ratzinger was known to be conservative and pretty much in line with John Paul II's beliefs. The leftists of the world were hoping that the church would "change direction", but it appears the church has sent a powerful message with this election that they don't feel that change is appropriate at this point in time.

[Guest pod]

Exactly. I'm not Catholic, but it's their own damn business on how to run their church. You don't like it, you can do what I do and just not be a Catholic.

[Guest jona7]

I'm just impressed with the choice they made. Ratzinger was known to be conservative and pretty much in line with John Paul II's beliefs. The leftists of the world were hoping that the church would "change direction"' date=' but it appears the church has sent a powerful message with this election that they don't feel that change is appropriate at this point in time.

[/quote']There goes slammin shaun bringin in his conservative views again :

[Guest slamminshaun]

It's not about my conservative views, or anyone else's political views really. It's about the views of the church. Everytime I turned on the TV, there was a different liberal pundit who was arguing that the church should listen to "the will of the people" and that the next Pope should be "more liberal as to offset the conservative direction of the church for the last 25 years". It was almost like they were telling the church how to run their church. First you have a conservative pope, then a liberal one.....wait, says who?

The church is NOT a democracy. Nor, is it supposed to be a battleground for political ideals. I'm not Catholic by any means, but I give them respect for doing things THEIR way and not listening to the idiot journalists of the world.

[Guest The_Man]

The church should listen to it's members. They should have chosen a Latin American pope who is young and charismatic. I for one don't want an old, self righteous prick for a pope who will not serve communion to people who have been divorced.

The church needs to get it's head out of it's ass. They need to stop pretending that sin does not exist among the clergy and get realistic with it's modern day teachings.

[Guest swirlundergrounder]

The church should listen to it's members. They should have chosen a Latin American pope who is young and charismatic. I for one don't want an old, self righteous prick for a pope who will not serve communion to people who have been divorced.

The church needs to get it's head out of it's ass. They need to stop pretending that sin does not exist among the clergy and get realistic with it's modern day teachings.

Very true. I think that the church has been in decline as far as how many people are turning towards being Catholic. For instance in Brazil back in 1970, 99% of Brazilians were Catholic and now it's decreased down to 70% of the population are Catholic. I agree that if the Church doesn't change with the times that they will keep losing people....

[Guest obby]

It's not about my conservative views' date=' or anyone else's political views really. It's about the views of the church. Everytime I turned on the TV, there was a different liberal pundit who was arguing that the church should listen to "the will of the people" and that the next Pope should be "more liberal as to offset the conservative direction of the church for the last 25 years". It was almost like they were telling the church how to run their church. First you have a conservative pope, then a liberal one.....wait, says who?

The church is NOT a democracy. Nor, is it supposed to be a battleground for political ideals. I'm not Catholic by any means, but I give them respect for doing things THEIR way and not listening to the idiot journalists of the world.

[/quote']

WERD!

You will hear allot of people bashing him in these upcoming days for that fact. I have already seen allot of inappropriate front pages commenting about how his father was a Nazi and he is a tough person. He's not tough. He’s just consistent. Remember, he was Pope JP II's “right hand manâ€. These same people who claimed JP2 was “great, well respected, etc..etc..†are not trying to attack the new pope who’s the next best thing when compared to JP2. This new pope is essentially Pope John Paul in a different body. I'm amused at how only Christianity gets attacked. Why not Jews? Muslims, Hindus, etc..? Oh yeah,that’s right, it’s en vogue to bash Christians nowadays. Looks more like a knee jerk reaction rooted in fear more than anything else. For that I’m grateful! I rather the “haters†fear because it reminds me that they ARE NOT running the show! THANK GOD!

I can only assume we’ll be seeing a steady and constant barrage of attacks on this pope and Christianity (in general) for the next several months. And for what? Being pro life and anti gay? If so? Why single out Christians? Jews and Muslims are not pro death and pro homo……

Just my thoughts. Shame to see all this Pope bashing and I am not talking about on this board. Just what I have read in these past days from International Headlines.

Peace,

[Guest pod]

No one's putting a gun to your head and forcing you to like the guy. I'm not in agreement with the Catholic religion. Hence I'm not Catholic.

Though there's 1.1 billion of them, and they all pretty much will do what this guy says, so there is some bearing on the rest of the world on who the Pope is.

[Guest rollyp66]

he doesnt have that friendly fatherly face that pope john paul had.. thats what all of us at work agreed on anyways........ :-\

Yeah I agree. he looks like 'Skelator' from He-Man and the Masters of the Universe......lol

Actually Micheal Jackson looks more like skelator

[Guest LdySphynx]

Why is everyone arguing about this new Pope, he'll be DEAD in 5 years anyway :!!!!

[Guest The_Man]

Why is everyone arguing about this new Pope, he'll be DEAD in 5 years anyway :!!!!

Well that is what the church is hoping for anyway. We'll see how it all turns out.

[Guest slamminshaun]

The church should listen to it's members.

As opposed to its members following the doctrine of the church? Interesting. Everyone seems to have a democratic view of the church. It's NOT a government elected by the people. It's a church!! They can elect who they want, when they want, and how they want, regardless of what its members feel.

If they choose to lose members, that's their business. The church is there to relay the word of God to its members, not the other way around.

[Guest obby]

The church should listen to it's members.

As opposed to its members following the doctrine of the church? Interesting. Everyone seems to have a democratic view of the church. It's NOT a government elected by the people. It's a church!! They can elect who they want' date=' when they want, and how they want, regardless of what its members feel.

If they choose to lose members, that's their business. The church is there to relay the word of God to its members, not the other way around.

[/quote']

I'm not even a pacticing Catholic and I agree with you 100%

[Guest siuol_leahcim]

Why is everyone arguing about this new Pope, he'll be DEAD in 5 years anyway :!!!!

a lot can happen in five years

[Guest The_Man]

The church should listen to it's members.

As opposed to its members following the doctrine of the church? Interesting. Everyone seems to have a democratic view of the church. It's NOT a government elected by the people. It's a church!! They can elect who they want' date=' when they want, and how they want, regardless of what its members feel.

If they choose to lose members, that's their business. The church is there to relay the word of God to its members, not the other way around.

[/quote']

Yeah, but you are completely blind to the fact that it's the members of the church that support it. The teachings of the church are archaic and that is the reason it is losing members. But I shouldn't waste my breath. You're not even Catholic. Your opinion doesn't count for anything. :

[Guest JMT]

The church should listen to it's members. They should have chosen a Latin American pope who is young and charismatic. I for one don't want an old, self righteous prick for a pope who will not serve communion to people who have been divorced.

The church needs to get it's head out of it's ass. They need to stop pretending that sin does not exist among the clergy and get realistic with it's modern day teachings.

im catholic, and i couldnt agree more. for me, the REAL church is the grassroots people and clergy on the community level.

[Guest ic143]

The church should listen to it's members. They should have chosen a Latin American pope who is young and charismatic. I for one don't want an old, self righteous prick for a pope who will not serve communion to people who have been divorced.

The church needs to get it's head out of it's ass. They need to stop pretending that sin does not exist among the clergy and get realistic with it's modern day teachings.

im catholic, and i couldnt agree more.

Me too!

[Guest slamminshaun]

Yeah, but you are completely blind to the fact that it's the members of the church that support it. The teachings of the church are archaic and that is the reason it is losing members. But I shouldn't waste my breath. You're not even Catholic. Your opinion doesn't count for anything. :

The Catholic church teaches the bible last time I checked. So what you're saying is that the bible is too archaic for Catholics of today, therefore, it should be modernized before they lose more members? Do you know how silly this sounds?

It's about as silly as the so-called Catholics who are denouncing the church for not supporting condems in Africa to prevent the spread of AIDS. I'm willing to bet God doesn't feel he should be the Planned Parenthood of the world. I'm Protestant because I take issue with the teachings of the Catholic Church, and there's no reason why I can't have an opinion of it. Alhtough I'm not Catholic, I respect their right to teach what they feel they should unlike many of their own members. If you don't like what they preach, become a Protestant like I did. People say, the church needs to get with it. Ok, well...how do you think God feels about it? Hmm....I'd venture to say God is more archaic and conservative then liberal and modernized. God doesn't evolve like humans. He is already the alpha and omega.

[Guest JMT]

the church has always evolved over the centuries, Vatican II being a prime example. its time for more change. sorry Slammer, youre not seeing this from the inside. unless you are dropping your envelopes into the basket on sunday, you cant fully appreciate whats going on. the church IS the people, thats what you are taught growing up. its not the business that has become the vatican.

[Guest The_Man]

Yeah' date=' but you are completely blind to the fact that it's the members of the church that support it. The teachings of the church are archaic and that is the reason it is losing members. But I shouldn't waste my breath. You're not even Catholic. Your opinion doesn't count for anything. :

[/quote']

The Catholic church teaches the bible last time I checked. So what you're saying is that the bible is too archaic for Catholics of today, therefore, it should be modernized before they lose more members? Do you know how silly this sounds?

It's about as silly as the so-called Catholics who are denouncing the church for not supporting condems in Africa to prevent the spread of AIDS. I'm willing to bet God doesn't feel he should be the Planned Parenthood of the world. I'm Protestant because I take issue with the teachings of the Catholic Church, and there's no reason why I can't have an opinion of it. Alhtough I'm not Catholic, I respect their right to teach what they feel they should unlike many of their own members. If you don't like what they preach, become a Protestant like I did. People say, the church needs to get with it. Ok, well...how do you think God feels about it? Hmm....I'd venture to say God is more archaic and conservative then liberal and modernized. God doesn't evolve like humans. He is already the alpha and omega.

It doesn't sound silly at all. You have no idea. If you were Catholic, you would be aware of the many people who have walked away from the church because the manner in which the scripture is presented is boring.

However, I won't walk away from Catholicism either. I was made aware of Protestant and Baptist beliefs when I was very young and the niceest thing I can say about them is that I will never be affiliated with them religiously. I'm more willing to get involved in the Catholic church than walk away from it.

[Guest slamminshaun]

If you were Catholic, you would be aware of the many people who have walked away from the church because the manner in which the scripture is presented is boring.

So what are we saying here? DJ Tiesto live at the Vatican so that people will be more interested in what's going on over there? My wife is Catholic and she questions her faith to the church at times. But she goes and drops her envelope every Sunday. I, for one, will never convert no matter how hard she tries. I don't like a "boring" presentation of scripture either....that's why i'm not Catholic.

JMT, no apologies needed. This just disprooves the rumors that you and I were cloned from the same embryo (as if our height difference wasn't enough). 8)

[Guest The_Man]

If you were Catholic' date=' you would be aware of the many people who have walked away from the church because the manner in which the scripture is presented is boring.

[/quote']

So what are we saying here? DJ Tiesto live at the Vatican so that people will be more interested in what's going on over there? My wife is Catholic and she questions her faith to the church at times. But she goes and drops her envelope every Sunday. I, for one, will never convert no matter how hard she tries. I don't like a "boring" presentation of scripture either....that's why i'm not Catholic.

The Tiesto suggestion is ridiculous and you know it. There can be no doubt that many Catholics question their faith. How can we not? Masses seem nothing more than aerobic exercises (stand, sit, kneel) punctuated by boring attempts at explaining scripture. It should be more interesting and interactive. It should be more like a conversation led by the priest where everyone's understanding grows.

[Guest pod]

Tijs would blow the roof off of the Sistine Chapel.

[Guest trancepriest]

JMT' date=' no apologies needed. This just disprooves the rumors that you and I were cloned from the same embryo (as if our height difference wasn't enough). 8)

[/quote']

Hmmm... perhaps post womb environmental variation.