Posted on 12/12/2014 2:55:21 PM PST by marshmallow
Pope Francis says he expects to live two or three more years, and may retire
19AUG2014
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/19/pope-francis-expects-live-two-three-years-may-retire
Maybe he was misinterpreted.
In the meantime, many other religions fall, IMNVHO, woefully short in the organization and structure department. Even worse, their ideas of pomp and pageantry just don't cut it ... not even by NFL halftime standards. Perhaps now that we have a spare, we could put Benny out (or Frannie) as a consultant.
Care to elaborate on the tone of your post?
Cut back on the caffeine.
Really—who cares? he’s already history.
Why certainly. IMNVHO, The Vatican has placed itself in a rather awkward position reminiscent to me of the Avignon Captivity, and other times, when more than one Pope was claiming the throne. Pope Benny tried to back out gracefully, but apparently the nomenclatura wouldn't allow it.
As a title, "Pope Emeritus" seems completely bogus to me. Furthermore, I think I can see in the swirling competition between various factions, why Pope Benny may have resigned to begin with.
Furthermore, the dichotomy between the sacred and the profane within the Roman Church has always fascinated me. Take for example, St. Francis of Assisi. He preached the dispersal of earthly treasures to alleviate the sufferings of the poor. Yet, upon his demise, the religious order((s) that grew up around him owned a major piece the real estate in Northern Italy. Is he any less a saint? Of course not. Is this not historically remarkable? Of course it is.
I also confess that I cannot quite take this new fellow as a serious heavyweight thinker and consider him a sort of dabbler around the edges of Liberation Theology .
Now is my tone somewhat irreverent? Why yes, I believe I must confess it is.
Roger that.
Oy - it makes him sound helpless in the hands of an unnamed cabal which easily thwarted him in matters large and small. That sends a shiver through me. Is the Curia a pack of wolves and bullies?
Your premise is wrong from the git-go. Benedict (Joseph Ratzinger) is not a pope now at all. There are no different grades or degrees of "pope." He is a priest, a Bishop -- not a pope, period.
As for your contemptuous tone --- "Bennie" and "Frannie" --- let me, in all charity and a spirit of Christian good will, advise you to knock it off.
No, only Francis is misinterpreted.
Then why the title, "Pope Emeritus?"
let me, in all charity and a spirit of Christian good will, advise you to knock it off.
Thanks. I needed that and will comply.
Ain't that the truth....more post Vatican II novelty.
I wasn’t clear. It’s the snarky tone I find offputting because it reads as so gratutious,juvenile, and especially in the last sentence, just smug. You’re so busy larding it on, your points become obscured.
That said,I would also disagree, particularly with the import of the first paragraph of your last. “Emeritus”, I have just learned, is a “postpositive adjective.” I’d never heard of one of those, but ok. We all know it means “retired.” Why that descriptor is “bogus,” just escapes me -— it’s merely descriptive. I think you’re reaching an awful lot to compare Benedict to an anti-pope. I’m just not aware of any facts that would support such a comparison. Frankly, I’m a Catholic and not a huge Francis fan, but your post just reads like this was an opportunity for you to hop on your anti-Catholic hobby horse.
Why does he still wear white?
much ridden 'round these here parts.
That's why he didn't want the title "Pope Emeritus." This puzzling title is unprecedented historically, and thus not defined.
I am touched in my heart, and will henceforth call him Father Benedict. Or even Father Ratzinger. That's who he is.
It dismays me so deeply me that some little clerical bureaucRAT got it all twisty-tailed around at a point when Benedict was so weak he couldn't nail down all the details.
It's maddening.
Thank you for your good will.
http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=23468
I know this was linked in the OP, but I thought I’d post it separately. It provides additional interesting info.
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