[RonMN]

"under extreme persecution"...(last pope)

Can you imagine being elected POPE after open season has been declared on all catholics?

[erl]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('lorenzo', 'D')on't confuse FOX News items with reality.

[Yavicleus]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('RonMN', '"')under extreme persecution"...(last pope)

Can you imagine being elected POPE after open season has been declared on all catholics?

[BiGG]

Those wacky alleged prophecy assertions are absolutely absurd …


Debunking St. Malachy claims...

Alleged prophecies of St. Malachy...

[threadbear]

Ratzinger, for sure. Doesn't matter how old he is. Send him to a taxidermist and have Disney animatronics do the rest.

If he's a theo-con. He gets it. End of story.

Me--April 4. Yeay me!!

[twofiftyfive]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('kochevnik', '
')According to the prophecy the new pope should have some connection to the Benedictines.

Guess what the new pope's name is ?

Benedict XVI

[chargrove]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'H')e chose that name for himself. Do you think he never heard of the prophecy? Were you being sarcastic, maybe?

[gg3]

Let's not forget that there is presently an obsession with end-times prophesies (unrelated to the St. Malachy item) and the Second Coming amongst the radical fringe of evangelical Protestants in the US.

It is possible that the new Pope, given his reactionary stance on a number of issues (and reactionary is the correct word, see also his vociferous criticism of "modernism"), sees himself as somehow related to that trend. Either that his own thinking is convergent with it, or he wishes to tap into that stream of emotion by way of providing something to energize a potentially activist subset of the Catholic faithful, or he wishes to compete with it in the "marketplace" of religious doctrine.

But in any case, here we have a Pope who has chosen for himself a name that directly reflects the St. Malachy prophesy.

The central fact of Cardinal Ratzinger's recent history and activities, is his doctrinal rigidity. This is particularly relevant to issues of sexuality and reproduction (can anyone guess where I'm going with this?).

If in fact the prophesy plays out as given (or, if it becomes self-fulfilling), there is an obvious reason why the Catholic Church would come to be the target of such actions as could destroy Rome:

That, specifically, is the Church's opposition to all methods of birth control aside from the Rhythm Method, in a world of 6+ billion people, that is running out of key resources within our own lifetimes.

Pope Benedict might live and rule the Church for another decade or so. During that time the world may well pass the threshold for overshoot, dieoff, and collapse. If he sticks to his rigid stance about birth control, he and the Church will be (not "might be", but "will be"; I'm choosing my words carefully here) blamed by a large portion of the world (rightly or wrongly) for having foisted this greatest of tragedies upon us.

As we all know, an overpopulated world, starving, running out of oil, running out of fresh water, and suffering global climate impacts, will be a very very volatile and unstable place. The number of smaller states having nuclear weapons will probably continue to increase by two or three during this period, and the possession of nuclear weapons by terrorists is already (at present) considered a credible threat, which will also increase.

The known history of the Church re. birth control, in a desperately overpopulated world in collapse mode, in turn could lead to terrorist actions, or even outright war by another country, against Vatican City or against Rome in general. If such acts include the use of WMDs particularly nuclear weapons, we then have the destruction of Vatican City and/or of Rome.

I'll make a couple of predictions right here: Benedict will die at the early stages of the dieoff phase of collapse. His successor will come in at a time when the world's people are starting to blame the Church for the overpopulation that has led to the predicament of the times. His successor will almost immediately go into "apology mode," and attempt to reverse the Church's position on birth control. However, at that point it will be too late. The public will see this as weakness and caving-in, and when this occurs the Church will fall from its present position as a leading denomination among the world's religions. In effect the Church will suddenly be seen as terribly weak.

As soon as the "weak Church" meme starts to spread, latent resentments, historic grudges, and overt hostilities will rise to the surface. This sets the scene for some minor dictator with an a-bomb, or some terrorist group with an a-bomb, to attempt to take revenge against the Vatican. *Boom.* Game over.

This in turn will feed whatever end-times sentiments are present among Protestants and Jews, leading to a tendency toward self-fulfilling prophesy among those faiths as well.

Now strictly speaking, I can't find it in my heart to pre-judge Pope Benedict in such a manner as to foreclose the possibility that he might, just might, possibly, see the light about overpopulation and resource crash. I hope and pray that he does. But if he doesn't; if he holds fast to the Church's present dogma about reproduction, he will reap the proverbial whirlwind.

[pip]

What % of the world's population is Catholic? Is it enough to blame population problems on the pope's doctrines?

[Ludi]

Approx 1,100,000,000 Catholics worldwide.

http://www.adherents.com/adh_rb.html

[DomusAlbion]

gg3,

I believe there is a flaw in your thinking "re: the world will blame over population on the Catholic Church"

The greatest population growth rates are in either Muslim countries or countries where the Catholic Church's influence is marginal.

Here are the top ten and their population growth percentage:

1 Somalia 3.43
2 Singapore 3.42
3 Yemen 3.42
4 Afghanistan 3.38
5 Oman 3.38
6 Kuwait 3.34
7 Micronesia, Fed. States of 3.28
8 Saudi Arabia 3.27
9 São Tomé and Príncipe 3.18
10 Chad 3.07

And just look at some of the most populous regions: India, China and the rest of Asia. There is little Catholic influence there except for the Phillipines and perhaps Vietnam.

edited to add 10th entry.

[Yavicleus]

Islam, 6 out of 9 population growth countries choose it!

[lorenzo]

Just like Pope John Paul II, his Holiness Pope Benedict XVI will continue to be the only defendor of women on this planet.

-against the pornographization of the life-world: in modernity, liberalism and consumer capitalism, women have been turned into pornographic lust objects. Their bodies must conform to the norms of advertising, millions of women suffer oppression and unfreedom that way. Under this liberalist oppression of women-hood hides a deep fear of women and femininity.
The Catholic Church and the Pope however are not afraid of women. With their Godly discourse they liberate women from this oppression, by making them understand that God accepts them as they are, in their entirety.

-against the utilitarian destruction of life: in modernity, liberalism and consumer capitalism, life itself has become commoditized. Women are encouraged to see their life-bearing capacity as merely a "factory", a "mechanical production unit". If the production is not wanted, you just "abort".
The Catholic Church and the Pope are not so cowardly. They see life as sacred, not a mere product. They see life as having immeasurable intrinsic sacred value. This goes against the utilitarianist modernity which sees life as a commodity that can be discarded as some piece of trash at an individual's own will.

-against the commodification of death: on the same line: death is not something man controls, it is God's will. Modernity, utilitarianism and liberalism see life as a product, and you can terminate it after it has had it's best "use".
The Catholic Church and the Pope are not so afraid of life and death; they see life as too important to just throw it away after it has fulfilled its "productive duties".

-against the commercialization and utilitarization of sexuality: in liberalism, capitalism and utilitarianism, sexuality is seen as a hedonistic act to relieve stress, so that the relieved body of the atomized individual can then better function in the production unit called the modern economy.
The Catholic Church and the Pope are not so reductionistic and fearful of sexuality. Sex is a meaningful relationship which binds people into a community called a family, the cornerstone of society. The family is a sacred place where love, joy and sadness are shared. Sexuality is a full part of it.
Now in modernity, all these good things are taboo. In modernity, unbreakable bonds and loyalty between people must be destroyed, so that all you have left is an atomized society, where people can be used as individuals and be put to work in purely utilitarian production units.

The Catholic Church and his Holiness the Pope are the new progressive forces of the 21st century. The time when life, sex, love, death and femininity merely had to be "products" with a utilitarian "value" ascribed to them , will soon be left behind by enlightened people who expect more of life.
They will find their guidance in the Church.

All free people are Catholics. Only Catholics are free.

[Ebyss]

I'll believe that the Catholic Church support women when they :

(a) Stop promoting us as Baby Machines and allow us to enjoy sex by encouraging the use of contraception and safe sex.

(b) Allow women to be priests.



$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A')ll free people are Catholics. Only Catholics are free.

[BiGG]

Defender of women my ass, the Catholics repress their women like a bunch of Stone Age Neanderthals and don’t allow them to hold even basic positions of leadership at your local church, let alone anywhere in the hierarchy!

[Agren]

Ohh, I din't know you had it in you Lorenzo,
first sarcasm

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'J')ust like Pope John Paul II, his Holiness Pope Benedict XVI will continue to be the only defendor of women on this planet.

[tmazanec1]

I liked the post until that last line, and I am Catholic.

[lorenzo]

But the line only refers to the Jesuit's adagium: "plus est en vous" (there's more in you than you think). When one says "all free people are Catholics and only Catholics are free" it basically means that in every person hides a Catholic waiting to get out. It's just a matter of gently pulling. Pope Benedict XVI will do just that.

[PenultimateManStanding]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('tmazanec1', 'I') liked the post until that last line, and I am Catholic.