Free Republic

The new pope, Benedict XVI, is seventy-eight years old and, by conventional wisdom, it seems unlikely that he'll come anywhere close to matching the length of term of his immediate predecessor, John Paul II, whose twenty-seven-year tenure was the third longest in papal history. In order to do so, he would have to live to be a hundred and five years of age, a feat that no previous pope, and few men, have ever achieved. In fact, many commentators think that his advanced age (the oldest in over a century) indicates that he's meant to be a short-term, transitional pope,...

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The first message a new pope sends to the world is encoded in the name he chooses. If Roman Catholicism's next leader calls himself John Paul III, that would signal continuity. "John" would connote a gentle father while "Pius" could herald an era of deep conservatism. A name from the distant papal past -- improbable ones like Zephyrinus, Hilarus or Formosus -- would send Catholics scurrying to their history books to see what it could mean. The maxim "Nomen est omen" (Latin for "a name is a sign") is as valid today for popes as it...

They ponder an election process invented in the Middle Ages As preparations for the first papal election in 26 years get underway, cardinals addressed the need for better communication between the Vatican and local dioceses while batting away concerns that regional agendas would influence their voting. Dialogue, not Disunity Among the most frequently cited concerns was whether the church could strengthen collegiality without compromising its universal doctrine. Church officials often use collegiality as a code word for the decentralization of Vatican power. "How do you reflect the unity of the universal church and then figure out how to do that...

ROME (AP) - Among the American cardinals who will vote for a successor to Pope John Paul II are several with extensive Vatican experience, which could boost their influence in the conclave. No American is expected to be selected pope or to play kingmaker in the election. But their knowledge of Vatican politics, ability to speak Italian and relationships with other cardinals built over years in Rome could give them a strong role in marshaling support for a candidate, analysts say. "They speak the language, they know the mind-set and they've served as diocesan bishops," said David Gibson, a former...

There's nothing but good film on Pope John Paul II. The human consequences of his policies are largely missing. They are always off-camera. I intend no harsh assessment of the late Pope. I admired and respected him. He was that abstraction very close to my heart - a political (not cultural) liberal who hated communism and disliked rapacious capitalism and confronted authoritarian regimes wherever he found them. He cherished human life, opposing the death penalty as well as abortion - a moral lesson to our own President. On the war in Iraq, he was indistinguishable from many liberals here. He...