[sinkspur]

While it is true that a new Pope is elected by the Cardinals of the Church let us not forget that it is The Holy Spirit that guides them, The Holy Spirit is the reason Cardinal Ratzinger is now the new pontiff. All I can say is THANK YOU HOLY SPIRIT!!!

The role of the Holy Spirit is to protect the Church from error and harm.

Saying that the Spirit is responsible for Ratzinger's elevation also makes the Spirit responsible for those doozies in the Middle Ages, which I don't think you'd want to hold.

[Southern Federalist]

I saw somewhere that Ratzinger himself said recently that the Holy Spirit guarantees that the Church won't go down the tubes as the result of the Cardinals' choice, but not much more. He also said that there had been too many Popes that couldn't possibly be blamed on the Holy Spirit!

[pistolpackinannie]

I never said that Priests, Bishops and Cardinals didn't make mistakes, after all they are human as you and I are. What I did say was that the Cardinals listened to The Holy Spirit and elected the now Pope Benedict XVI. The Holy Spirit IS God, it is my belief that if we listen to God we cannot go wrong. I don't believe they went wrong by electing this Pope, may God bless him and guide him, and I'm sure He will. May God bless you also and give you the grace to listen to Him, you'll never be sorry!