My suspicion is that during Bush's last meeting with the Pope, they hatched

[cap]

up this mobilization of Catholic bishops against the Democrats. I remember during the last few weeks of the Bush presidency, he had a meeting with the Pope and I always wondered why.

[virgogal]

1. The Pope is very conservative and I doubt very much he would

allow himself to be influenced by Bush.

Conspiracies abound.

[Sebastian Doyle]

10. But on the other hand....

Old Hitler Youth member Bennie the Rat wasn't even on the "Most Likely to be the new Pope" list until after Chimpy showed up in Rome for JP's funeral.

Now read into that whatever you will :tinfoilhat: :tinfoilhat: :tinfoilhat:

[virgogal]

14. I'm afraid Ratzinger was on the short list for Pope before Bush showed

up for the funeral.

Ratzinger was a very powerful man,and detested by people like me long before he became Pope.

[vadawg]

2. i could maybe buy that if this was 180 degree change from the church

but as long as ive been alive the church has been pretty much anti abortion.. may be some collusion but im not seeing it..

[cap]

4. it's not a change in policy that I am talking about but an over-involvement in

American politics in a manner favorable to the Republican party. What I think is happening is that the Church is trying to split the Catholic vote in the Democratic party.

[vadawg]

7. question is then, do you think the democratic party can afford to lose the votes of catholics

even if it isnt the majority of catholics, would be interesting to see the insider polling numbers of the party to see what the head honchos think...

[babylonsister]

3. Yea, the Pope and idiot son were tight...

oops! Wrong pope!

[SpiralHawk]

5. And definitely the wrong pResident

for America.

[49jim]

11. Captiom

I saw a caption to the this picture a while ago....Pope- "Boy this guy is a dumb sh*t".

[tritsofme]

6. Really?

Please tell me I'm just missing the sarcasm tag or something, this can't be serious.

[Nyquil Man]

8. I think they kicked it into high gear in 2004,

when there was a pro-choice Catholic on the ticket. Remember the controversy when some bishops said they would not allow Kerry to participate in communion?

The main change is in the changing views of Catholic voters over time. Up until a couple of decades ago, Catholics were a solidly Democratic group; now they're essentially a bellwether group. So it's not surprising that the American church would also appear to move right.

[stray cat]

9. Maybe they just hatched eggs and watched furry little chicks emerge?

[obliviously]

12. Huffing paint thinner is bad for your brain!

[vadawg]

13. rofl, its better to huff gold paint, or so im told...

[1620rock]

15. I saw a better version of this picture...

Over the pope it said: His Holiness.
Over Bush it said: His Ass-Holiness.