The new Pope Elected into office.

[atinymonkey]

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger has just become Pope Benedict XVI. After days of deliberation the 115 Cardinals deliberating in the Sistine Chapel decided on Cardinal Ratzinger to head up the 1.1 Billion Catholics in the world today.

 

The Cardinals, in a ceremony that dates over the 265 successions of Pope since St Peter, final issued the white smoke from the flue this afternoon at 5pm GMT.

 

'We gather together not to decide the next Pope, but to decide the preordained will of God' one Cardinal commented on exiting the deliberations, 'Once the proceedings got Goring, all we needed was a little Putsch in the right direction' another Cardinal didn't say.

 

The new Pope has tended his flock for over 60 years, pausing only for a short period in Munich to serve the will of the Fuhrer by manning anti aircraft guns. Known as a hard liner, his anti abortion stance has raised a few eyebrows in the past, and his pro Nazi stance diminished in the wake of his acceptance speech where he may have reminded his flock of 'The fact that the Lord can work and act even with insufficient means to invoke through me a glorious 4th Reich for the Catholic Aryans'

 

 

God bless our Pope Benedict XVI. The Pope of a brave new world, so wholesome I could almost weep with joy.

 

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4445279.stm

[Pangloss]

It's an interesting choice -- the leader of the inquisition as the new pope. Probably not the first time THAT's happened, but it's certainly not the choice reformers were hoping for.

[bascule]

And look, he's a former Hitler Youth:

 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1080732.cms

 

The wartime past of a leading German contender to succeed John Paul II may return to haunt him as cardinals begin voting in the Sistine Chapel on Monday to choose a new pope.

 

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, whose strong defence of Catholic orthodoxy has earned him a variety of sobriquets – including "the enforcer", "the panzer cardinal" and "God's rottweiler" – is expected to poll around 40 votes in the first ballot as conservatives rally behind him.

 

Unknown to many members of the church, Ratzinger's past includes brief membership of the Hitler Youth movement and wartime service with a German army anti-aircraft unit.

 

Although there is no suggestion that he was involved in any atrocities, his service may be contrasted by opponents with the attitude of John Paul II, who took part in anti-Nazi theatre performances in his native Poland and in 1986 became the first pope to visit Rome's synagogue.

 

"John Paul was hugely appreciated for what he did for and with the Jewish people," said Lord Janner, head of the Holocaust Education Trust, who is due to attend ceremonies on Sunday to mark the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.

 

The son of a rural Bavarian police officer, Ratzinger was six when Hitler came to power in 1933.

 

His father, also called Joseph, was an anti-Nazi whose attempts to rein in the activities of Hitler's Brown Shirts forced the family to move home several times.

 

In 1937 Ratzinger's father retired and the family moved to Traunstein, a staunchly Catholic town in Bavaria close to the Fuhrer's mountain retreat in Berchtesgaden.

 

He joined the Hitler Youth aged 14, shortly after membership was made compulsory in 1941.

 

He quickly won a dispensation on account of his training at a seminary.

 

"Ratzinger was only briefly a member of the Hitler Youth and not an enthusiastic one," concluded John Allen, his biographer.

 

POPE BENEDICT XVI, the Enforcer, the Panzer Pope, God's Rottweiler!

[DreamLord]

Damn, and I wanted to be the next pope.

 

Seriously though, this guy doesn't seem like someone who is supposed to be teaching people about morals and peace.

 

The new Pope has tended his flock for over 60 years, pausing only for a short period in Munich to serve the will of the Fuhrer by manning anti aircraft guns.

 

Along with what others have said... Manning antiaircraft guns? Oh yeah, that's real peaceful... And this guy gets his own country?

[Coral Rhedd]

Sigh. A hardliner. An encourager of more uncared for and unwanted children in the world.

 

From my POV, someone has been casting aspersions upon rottweilers.

[Ophiolite]

The only conspiracy theory I ever had even a smidegeon of time for was the one that the smiling, liberal, godly JohnPaul I was murdered to prevent the Catholic Church undergoing a revolution (and to hush up the banking irregularities, and other unsavoury matters). If there was any truth in that then clearly the cardinals have learnt a lesson and have gone for the hardliner right off the bat.

I now have to conclude, given his views on birth control, that the Catholic Church does indeed represent a global threat almost as severe as global warming. My apologies to any devout Catholics, but I live on this planet too and suffer the consequences of that policy.

[atinymonkey]

I knew the Cardinals were uncomfortable with both JohnPaul's longevity and associated mental decline, and they were previously upset by some of his more liberal viewpoint but I don't think they would hasten his death. Always room for intrigue in the Vatican though.

 

I am, actually, rather surprised that Joseph Ratzinger managed to become Pope. I would have considered a condition of the position was that the candidate had not been associated with an Armed force of any kind. It give the press far too much ammunition and could in turn lead to a steeper decline in Catholic faith.

 

On a side note, Pope Benedict XVI is of a more scientific bent and is inclined to continue the Vaticans acceptance of scientific theory over literal interpritation of the Bible.

 

 

POPE BENEDICT XVI' date=' the Panzer Pope![/quote']

 

I'm telling you now, you could earn a fortune writing tag lines for the papers!

[Pangloss]

POPE BENEDICT XVI' date=' the Enforcer, the Panzer Pope, God's Rottweiler![/quote']

 

Classic.

[Ophiolite]

I knew the Cardinals were uncomfortable with both JohnPaul's longevity and associated mental decline, and they were previously upset by some of his more liberal viewpoint but I don't think they would hasten his death.

No ATM. The one before him that lasted 36 days. Not JohnPaul II, JohnPaul I is the one who was allegedly done away with. Elected as a compromise, since he seemed like a nice sort, he was actually going through the Vatican like Christ through a convention of moneylenders. Not everyone liked it.

[atinymonkey]

Ah, sorry, I'd assumed a typo. I had come across rumors of John Paul I getting 'fixed', but I never really got into the details. I was thinking about the storys of John Paul II getting to his ultimate reward a little too quickly, maybe the secrecy in the Vatican is well suited to conjecture.

[Aardvark]

I found it interesting that the first comment made on BBC radio 4, Channel 4 News and Channel 5 News all used exactly the same phrase to describe the new Pope.

 

The all called him an 'Ultra' Conservative.

 

Bit of a coincidence? Definitely evidence of bias in the media.

 

I wonder if the media would have refered to a 'Liberal' Pope as an 'Ultra' Liberal?

[AzurePhoenix]

Shouldn't they have chosen someone younger? I really don't need to get bored with this drama again in, ohhhh, two years or so when this old guy kicks it.

[Aardvark]

Shouldn't they have chosen someone younger? I really don't need to get bored with this drama again in, ohhhh, two years or so when this old guy kicks it.

 

Yes, it's most inconsiderate of them.

 

They really need to work on the PR, they could as least have had a rally with lots of ballons, pumping music and some sort of laser show.

[AzurePhoenix]

I'm not suggesting someone as young as me, just someone who isn't already getting ready for his funeral. And lasers would totally ROCK!! but I'd prefer good ol' country music. Hmmm, come to think of it, I would make a "wicked-cool" Pope.

[john5746]

I found it interesting that the first comment made on BBC radio 4' date=' Channel 4 News and Channel 5 News all used exactly the same phrase to describe the new Pope.

 

The all called him an 'Ultra' Conservative.

 

Bit of a coincidence? Definitely evidence of bias in the media.

 

I wonder if the media would have refered to a 'Liberal' Pope as an 'Ultra' Liberal?[/quote']

 

I think they mean that within the body of conservatives, one is more conservative than the norm. Not many liberals in that group I think.

[Aardvark]

I think they mean that within the body of conservatives, one is more conservative than the norm.

 

The word 'Ultra' is pretty clearly used as a way of implying great and undesirable extremism. Its a deliberately biased use of language, trying to slip in subliminal meaning below the radar.

 

 

Not many liberals in that group I think.

 

Possibly not, i'd imagine it's hard not to be a conservative when your authority is derived from 2000 years of tradition and occasional drowning in blood of infidels.

[Tetrahedrite]

I wonder if the media would have refered to a 'Liberal' Pope as an 'Ultra' Liberal?

No, they wouldn't have refered to the pope as ultra liberal, they would have refered to him as sensible!

[john5746]

The word 'Ultra' is pretty clearly used as a way of implying great and undesirable extremism. Its a deliberately biased use of language, trying to slip in subliminal meaning below the radar.

 

Yes, I agree. The media wants to sell content. They want to promote angst. Basically, going in, the europeans and americans were hoping for a more liberal pope to help with increasing their numbers, so the media is feeding on the dissappointment. Maybe some bias, but I could still see the reverse happening for say the leader of Greenpeace, assuming its followers wanted a more conservative person, but not quite as big a story.

[Auburngirl05]

Every catholic I've met is jaded and knows nothing of biblical truth' date=' in fact they have said it from they're own mouths. My guess is it has turned into a long term deception and possible launching ground for lucifer to attack humanity if you believe that. Yes the church needs help, but there eye have averted to a lie and double-mindedness.

 

legalize it america and stop ungodly oppression and lies...[/quote']

I was raised Catholic (have since 'left the church' but don't consider myself a Christian anymore), and I can understand that you don't agree with everything the church has done, but I DO think that any belief system deserves more respect than you're showing, you yourself said that religion is a personal thing, and blanket generalizations like that are just another form of 'lie' and 'deception' to yourself if you insist on believing them. No, the church isn't perfect, but it doesn't mean that every member "knows nothing of biblical truth" and that their beliefs are "launching ground for lucifer". Stereotypes like that are just as closeminded as any orthodox belief system could be.

 

Please correct me if I misinterpreted your words.