Why are there so many threads on the pope in this forum??

[dkofos]

[wtmusic]

1. it's popemania

just run with it babe

[htuttle]

2. It's Pope-a-looza! Popemania!

Personally, I'm poped out...

[Inland]

11. Pope-licious. nt

[TahitiNut]

17. Jiffy Pope, Pope GOP To Weasel, Pope Tarts, Pope Corn, Pope on a Rope

[htuttle]

18. Improved! Now with more Popey goodness!

[Moochy]

3. ¡Ay Pappi!

Hmm maybe its because there's a new pope?

Just a hunch.

[dkofos]

4. but what does that have to do with politics??

[pie]

8. Pope has endless resources and considerable clout

If Pope elects to throw these into the republican corner it has everything to do with politics.

[dkofos]

9. And we get to tax the catholic church??

[LoZoccolo]

14. And thus, that begs the question...

Why are so many people here bent on handing Catholics to the Republicans?

[Moochy]

10. Political influence of Popes

A new pope could influence politics in much of the world, like it or not.

Regardless of one's opinion of his office, or his instituition, or the level of pope-burnout here at DU, historically... Popes do have at least some influence on world politics.

For instance if a new pope could recommend a more practical view on abstinence + condom useage, they could do more to keep their faithful in this world, rather than dying of aids. This especially applies to countries with incredibly high rates of HIV where women get the disease from their unfaithful husbands.

[dkofos]

13. But the pope won't do that.

He could, and should.
But he won't.

Just another fallible human being.

[ananda]

12. politics?

What does the new pope have to do with politics? In just about one word, everything...

Joey Ratz has a control freak, fascist mentality. He wants to keep the male heirarchy intact, while keeping members of oppressed groups poor and virtually enslaved and beholden to fascist corporate powers.

He served as JPII's Grand Inquisitor and enforcer, causing irreparable damage to liberal clergy and lay Catholic leaders; and he served as protector for clerical pedophiles, even to the point of obstructing the law.

Furthermore, he's the one who interfered in the most recent presidential "election" here in the USA by saying that for Catholics to vote for Kerry or pro-choice candidates was going against church laws.

He's basically a rat in pope's clothing, with an apology to all rats.

As of this week, because of statements he has made, he owes a huge, abject apology and a retraction of what he said about Spaniards and gays. And he owes both an apology and restitution to all Catholics who have been molested by clergy, with a promise to support the full and complete prosecution of said clergy to the full extent of the law.

Sue

[dkofos]

15. Well maybe his politics will be the end of the catholic church.

I certainly hope so.

The only way I would get behind a child molester,
or someone who condones it is with an ungreased
Louisville slugger.

[pie]

16. Good to see that people understand: this man is dangerous

Evil upon evil.

[MoonRiver]

20. I asked this question a few days ago.

Seems the Pope is all powerful in American politics. :eyes:

[stillcool]

5. Flame-bait? n/t

[dkofos]

7. no

I just don't understand what all the fuss is about

above all he is just a human being

[Catt03]

6. Because you are starting another one...????????....nt

[Jack Rabbit]

19. Frankly, I wish there weren't

Unfortunately, the ascension of Pope Benedict raises fears that the Church will be more active in politics and attempt to influence more specifically how parishioners vote.

When I was very young, I knew that some people simply would not vote for any Roman Catholic for anything, even dog catcher, because, they said, the Catholic Church doesn't believe in the separation of church and state. That was nonsense, of course. For the most part, it still is. I hope it remains so.

It is one thing for a religious institution to define morality and even suggest to its parishioners that they keep these things in mind when deciding for whom to vote. It is quite a different thing to threaten to withhold communion from a parishioner for voting for any particular candidate or from a parishioner who is running for public office on a platform the church fathers find at odds with what they believe church teachings ought to be.

There is some discussion that Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict, crossed that line last year. It really doesn't matter whether he influenced Catholics to vote for Bush or whether he intervened on behalf of a candidate whom I happen to support. If he crossed that line, he was wrong to do so.

It is a discussion that makes me very uncomfortable. I am not Catholic and what the Catholic Church teaches is not my business.

However, separation of church and state ought to mean that the state doesn't tell its citizens how to worship and the church doesn't tell its parishioners how to vote or tell those parishioners who hold public office what public policy ought to be.

A Roman Catholic running for public office ought to be able to support legalized abortion as a matter of public policy. It doesn't mean she would get an abortion herself or would assist in getting an abortion for his or her daughter for any reason; it simply means that the office seeker or office holder believes it is better state policy to permit abortion than to spend the energy prosecuting it as a crime. In a pluralistic society, that should be a defensible position even for someone who personally finds abortion abhorrent. We could also put the shoe on the other foot and say that a certain Supreme Court Justice who happens to be Roman Catholic ought to have every right to uphold capital punishment if he thinks that is a proper interpretation of law; this, too, seems to run afoul of the Catholic Church's "Culture of Life" teaching.

[Bryn]

21. There is a sentence within this word "EPISCOPAL"

The word ... "EPISCOPAL" has "LOSE A POPE" within.

:) I am an Episcopalian.

[NMDemDist2]

22. Believe me, I have asked that question many times this week also n/t