We have a Pope!

[Matilda]

Definitely white smoke coming from the chimney - it's live on BBC
World, but the online page as yet has no link.

But as there's only been time for one ballot in this session, there
would be no smoke at all if no pope has been chosen.

Forty minutes until we know who it is - it's nearly 2.0 a.m. here
in Sydney, but I can't possibly go to bed until I know.

[Midlodemocrat]

1. Praise the Lord.

We have a new Pope. Bells are ringing.


Glory to God in the Highest and Peace to his People on Earth.

[Matilda]

2. At last, a link -

From BBC:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/

[Cuban_Liberal]

3. Praise be to God!

Blessed be His name!

:D

[4_Legs_Good]

4. WHO is it?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

That was way too fast. Holy cripes? 2 votes??? TWO???

Gah, 2 votes is too quick for a good comprimise candidate. Who the heck is it???

Sorry everyone to be unhappy, but my future as a Catholic in large part hinges on a reasonable choice here. Anyone less progressive than JPII is going to really hurt my chances.

I can't believe it 2 votes!!!

Oh, I'm going to be going nuts for the next couple hours.

WHOOOOOO????

david

[Maeve]

6. 4 or 5 votes, actually

They aren't quite sure...announcement will probably be in the next 15 minutes or so.

[4_Legs_Good]

9. Really?

I thought this was only the "second smoke"?

I could be wrong; I just checked the news for the first time. 4 or 5 votes is hopeful!

/crosses fingers

david

[YellowRubberDuckie]

5. Oh, to be in St. Peter's Square right now!

The Energy I'm sure is intoxicating, and everyone is so happy. People from all over the world are rubbing elbows and hugging each other. How cool is that!? And amazingly, news has been that everyone in St. Peter's Square, since John Paul II turned for the worst, has been peaceful, and there have been no problems. Oh this is so cool!
Duckie

[Padraig18]

7. Thy will be done, O Lord.

*crosses fingers*

:)

[Matilda]

8. So nervous .....

I feel shaky. So afraid it might be Ratzinger ... Thy will, Lord.

[Padraig18]

10. Nervous here, too.

I'm also crossing my fingers.

:D

[4_Legs_Good]

11. I was terrified when I thought it was only two votes, buuuuut

now that I learn it's gotta be at least 4, I'm far happier.

david

[4_Legs_Good]

24. Worst news EVER

God, I don't know if I'm more disappointed than I was on November 2 or not.

I'm disgusted to be sure.

Ain't no need to wonder why, whoopie we're all gonna die.

david

[CBHagman]

12. All kinds of praying here, too, and nerves.

Our news editor, who is Mormon, just came to tell me about it. I've been on pins and needles ever since!

[DemBones DemBones]

13. CBS is showing only St. Peter's Square -- no doubt

angering "The Young and Restless" fans! It sounds like Bob Schieffer is the announcer.

EWTN has had a split screen when I've checked so I'm staying with CBS, I think.

Here we go! The curtains are opening!

[Maeve]

14. Here it goes---Ratzinger

Oy veh.

[Matilda]

26. What have they done to us?

And what will he do to the Church?

[Padraig18]

15. Oh, NO!

:scared:

[YellowRubberDuckie]

23. I don't know much about him...

Why is this horrible?
Duckie

[Cuban_Liberal]

16. No, no, no, no, no!!!!!!!!

x(

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

42. Afraid so man

:cry:

[ronnykmarshall]

45. I was listening on AAR

and they had were monitoring it ...... my stomach dropped when they annouced it was Ratzinger.

I am sick about this.

[CBHagman]

17. Maybe they didn't follow the Holy Spirit.

:cry:

:cry:

:cry:

[Midlodemocrat]

18. Apparently they not only didn't follow the Holy Spirit

...they didn't even realize they were supposed to.

This is a disaster.

[happynewyear]

36. yeah no sh*t

great just what we need, a Nazi running the Catholic Church.

I think I GIVE UP!

:kick:

[Az_lefty]

19. This is heartbreaking....

Benedict XVI
:cry:

[Padraig18]

20. God, give me strength!

:cry:

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

43. Me too

Oh man!

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

21. Dear Lord, what we're the men in cardinal red thinking..

This man will be a disaster for the Catholic Church...

[DemBones DemBones]

22. Come on, guys, John Paul II trusted this man -- we should at least

give him a chance. He'll be a good administrator and he may be more charismatic than we think. People say he's a good listener.

Give him a chance and have some faith in the Holy Spirit and in the cardinals who elected Pope Benedict XVI.

[Matilda]

25. It's terrible.

Just the worst thing they could have done.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

27. I'm going to agree with DB.

It won't get any worse, and besides, this guy is an interim pope. He won't be around for longer than ten years. Let's give him a chance and pray that he surprises us.
Duckie

[fishwax]

30. I hope you're right

but I'm not overly optimistic. Perhaps he'll be moved. Popes have surprised before, and certainly JP II changed over the years. Perhaps Benedict XVI will move in the opposite direction.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

39. People mellow as they get older.

I hear he was conservative when he was a contender in 1978. Maybe he's mellowed. You never know someone's heart. Maybe he has a heart for the people. You never know. Give him a litle bit of a chance.
Duckie

[regnaD kciN]

50. That might be credible...

...in the case of an unexpected Pope, like the last few, where we really had no idea where he stood before being elected. But Ratzinger has been in charge of the CDF for years, and has been among the most prominent in the RCC of stating his opinions. There can be no doubt about what direction he will take.

:-(

[regnaD kciN]

48. The hell it won't get worse!

Over the past few years, Ratzinger has been issuing "opinions" on matters of previous papal encyclicals. He has already stated that he consideres several of them (including Humanae Vitae, the anti-contraception encyclical, and Apostolicae Curae, declaring Anglican orders "absolutely null and utterly void") to be infallible. Since only the Pope could make such a declaration, his opinion was dismissed, with the understanding that he was a hardliner, but JPII was being more moderate and holding him back.

Guess what? He's the Pope now, and nothing can hold him back. I expect a flurry of infallible pronouncements to come from the Vatican in the next few years, locking the RCC into a pre-Vatican II stance from which it can never be moved.

:-(

[4_Legs_Good]

28. Well either I don't believe in the Holy Spirit anymore or

these guys just ignorned it.

I'm disgusted.

How's the Episcopal Church looking these days?

Sure JPII trusted him, but he trusted him for all the wrong reasons and to do all the "dirty" work which I never agreed with JPII on.

:puke:

:cry: for the Church

:cry: for humanity

:cry: for my own faith

david

[YellowRubberDuckie]

32. How could you possibly know that?

We only know speculation and theories. Don't cry yet. Give the man a chance. And think about it. On the bright side, he's 78. He won't be around forever.
Duckie

[4_Legs_Good]

34. I understood he was JPII's hatchet man

And he was too conservative in 1978, when he was a contender. Imagine how much worse it is now.

Plus it's a very, very sad state of affairs when I'm rejoicing because the pope will not live very long.

:cry:

david

[regnaD kciN]

49. "He won't be around forever"

Maybe not physically, but if he makes the sort of exercises of Papal Infallibility that I thoroughly expect him to (such as condemnations of contraception and upholding of a male-only clergy), his papacy, as short as it may be, will never end.

:-(

[Matilda]

33. Agreed. John Paul trusted some pretty awful characters.

Like his secretary, Stanislas Dziwicz (sp?).

I am so afraid that Ratzinger will make ex cathedra statements on
things like birth control (he has apparently stated his opinion
that it should have been an infallible pronouncement from the
beginning), and female ordination, and married clergy. That will
mean those subjects can never, ever be open to discussion again.

[4_Legs_Good]

37. Who was the one who said condoms don't help stop AIDS?

I don't think it was Ratzinger, but I could be wrong.

/sigh/

david

[Matilda]

38. No, it wasn't Ratzinger.

n/t

[DemBones DemBones]

46. Several people, not just in the Church, have pointed out that in Africa

condoms that are sold have often been stored at high temperatures and are no good when purchased, plus many Africans are poor enough that they re-use condoms many times, excessive "wear" which condoms are not meant to withstand.

Under those circumstances, condoms don't do much to prevent the spread of AIDS. In fact, they only work for that purpose if intact condoms are used properly and regularly by a majority of a population.

Lots of people in the U.S., where most are literate and where information about contraception and prevention of the spread of STDs and AIDS is widely printed, are pretty damn clueless about how to use condoms properly. For that reason, it would be most effective, in terms of preventing the spread of disease and preventing unwanted pregnancies, if people were convinced to abstain from sexual contact altogether. Not an easy sell, certainly, but less complicated than teaching the nuances of using condoms properly, especially when you know people don't have easy access to condoms that are reliable (i.e. have been stored properly) and when you're working with an illiterate or marginally literate population. Not to mention that there are a limited amount of people in Africa who are able to teach the population about proper condom use and such teaching is surely most effective one-on-one. In short, it's a mess in Africa, and I'm not sure there's any way to stop the AIDS epidemic there.

:cry: for Africa, suffering from disease, famine, and wars.

[Maeve]

29. I can only quote Fr Greeley's article for today

P.S. A quote for all the hate mail that says I should leave the election to the Holy Spirit: "It is wrong to say that the Holy Spirit elects the pope because there have been popes the Holy Spirit would never elect." Source? Joseph Ratzinger

http://www.suntimes.com/output/greeley/cst-nws-greeley19.html

[Az_lefty]

41. Just wonderful...

:sarcasm:

[Padraig18]

52. I'll try.

Think of this as a test...

*sigh*

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

31. Just one question is Pope Benedict XVI,

a member of Opus Dei?

[Matilda]

35. No. But as someone so close to JPII,

he probably supports it.

In past times after all, he would have been called the Grand
Inquisitor.

[Matilda]

40. It's after 3.0 a.m. in Sydney, so I'm going to bed.

And pull the covers over my head and cry.

Funny - I had a strong feeling early tonight that we'd know who
the new pope will be by 2.0 a.m., so I waited up.

I'm so sad about it, I hope I can sleep.

Goodnight all - it's been great to be sharing this news with you
all as it happened.

[IronLionZion]

44. Well, some cardinals voted for Ratzinger

so they must think he's good. I'm willing to give him a chance.

We have a new Pope!
:grouphug: :applause: :patriot:

[DemBones DemBones]

47. Yes! Two-thirds of the cardinals agreed to support him after

just a few rounds of voting. John Paul II trusted him, too, so Viva il Papa! Viva Papa Benedetto XVI! (Benedetto is Italian for Benedict.)

I'll pray for him and pray that the Holy Spirit guides him throughout his papacy.

[meow2u3]

51. A 2-legged German Shepherd

Pope Benedict XVI, formerly known as Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, was nicknamed "God's Rottweiler", but a Rottie is too rough-looking a breed. As Pope, he needs a makeover concerning the dog analogy, so I chose a German Shepherd because it sounds more pastoral and less vicious.