We have a Pope!

[JALU3]

Now, the biggest question is: Who?

[REG]

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger from Germany is elected the new Pope.

He has chosen for his name, Pope Benedict XVI.

Habemus Papam!

[Hugh Casey]

I would have prefered someone else, but I wish him luck.

God knows, he will need it.

[REG]

Oh, please. I hope you didn't bet on Cardinal Bernard Law.

Some London bookmakers have got it right, BTW, in both candidate and the chosen name.

IMHO, I've had a hunch they were going to select an older papal candidate. He's 78 years old, which mean his papal reign will be much shorter than that of JP2 the Great.

[First of Two]

He's 78 years old, which mean his papal reign will be much shorter than that of JP2 the Great.

OTOH, he's not got the health problems JPII had at that age (Parkinson's, etc.) so he may last quite a while yet.

I give it 12-15 years, barring incident.

What's amused me is that the media attacks have already started. He's been called "schooled in the Nazi's use of propaganda" (He was 12 when WWII started, ninnies!), and referred to by unknown "critics" (ie: the press) as "God's Rottweiler."

[Don Mappin]

Can someone please explain the "choosing a name" bit?

It seems very de-humanizing. In fact, it seems to embrace exactly what's wrong with the church (IMO): dividing themselves from the common masses.

"I'm no longer Bob Common, I'm now Benedict the XVI. Fear my wrath, mortals!"

Seriously, I'd like to know.

[Cybrludite]

Good to see that the Catholic church is no longer popeless. I am slightly suprised that it was Ratzenger,as he'd been the front runner going in. The old joke being that "Many a Cardinal has gone into the Conclave as a Pope & come out a Cardinal." Of course, according to St. Malachy's prophecies, this is the 2nd to last Pope beofre the destruction of Rome & the arrival of the End Times.

[spshu]

Can someone please explain the "choosing a name" bit?

It seems very de-humanizing. In fact, it seems to embrace exactly what's wrong with the church (IMO): dividing themselves from the common masses.

"I'm no longer Bob Common, I'm now Benedict the XVI. Fear my wrath, mortals!"

Seriously, I'd like to know.

Tradition and honorific of the previous pope are the reason now days but some had what we consider to be un-Christian names, like being named after a Roman or Greek god. To a certain degree they took this from the Roman emperor model of adopting the name of atleast Caesar and Augustus if they are a senior or sole emperor.

[CorpBoy]

He has chosen for his name, Pope Benedict XVI.

Not being catholic I don't feel quite so bad to say this, but I never realized that the Popes chose a name when elected.

[Don Mappin]

Not being catholic I don't feel quite so bad to say this, but I never realized that the Popes chose a name when elected.

I'm confused by this as well. This practice seems to annoint them above the common man. I'm not a big fan of the message that sends.

[Owen E Oulton]

I still think that after two John Pauls in a row, the least they could do was to elect a George Ringo... ba-da-BUMP!

[Dan Stack]

I'm wondering if this discussion is heading to a place that might be more appropriate for the political area, but anyways...

I believe the tradition of having the pope take a new name is related to that of the apostle Simon who was named Peter by Jesus and became the first pope. (Similarly there is the case of Saul who persecuted the Christians until he converted upon which he took the name Paul - though he never became pope)

[Evan van Eyk]

The adoption of new names was not so common until the early middle ages. Before that the name was simply translated into a Latin form. Not so much to divide the pope from the "ordinary" people but simply because Latin was the general language of ancient times. Numbers were simply added if there was more then one Paulus, or whatever ( the first one was Sixtus II. in 257 AD ).

The first pope to break with that tradition was Mercurius - bearing the name of a Roman god ( Mercury, messenger of the Olymp ) he changed his name into John II.
However it was not common to do so until around 1000 AD.

In the Middle-Ages it became common to adopt names of former popes or of attributes like Innozenz or Pius.

John Paul I. ( only 33 days in office ) was the first pope to take two names, John Paul II. took his name in memory of his predecessor.

Benedict the XVI. took his name in memory of Benedict XV., called the "Pope of Peace" because of his attempts to end WWI and to create a dialogue between the former enemies after WWI.



I am more worried of his age 78 is not too young and the question is if he can follow his ideas long enough. At least he seems to be of good health, though. Many critizise him for his strictness and conservative opinion, however I think they forget that he ( up to the death of the last Pope ) was the head of the Sancti Officii, the organisation following up to the Inquisition, thus guarding the catholic belief. It was his job to be conservative. In fact in his earlier times he was known to be liberal and progressive.
I think he can do a good job, one of the most important things however is to keep in contact with the youth, a legacy of John Paul II.
Another thing is IMHO that he sticks to christian values and shows that - much like his predecessor. He has to intervene and give example.
That does not mean that there should be no change, but there has to be a firm course that allows catholics to follow him.

While I was not to fond of some decisions of John Paul II., he at least had a clear line of argumentation, something you could rely on - which is rare nowadays.

[REG]

Evan van Eyk got it right. FYI, no other Pope has chosen the name of the first Holy Father of the Roman Catholic Church, the fisherman and apostle St. Peter.

As for his age, I'm not surprised really. I think they wanted a much shorter papal reign after Pope John Paul II's (27 years).

As for his German history, I can't really be certain. I know that not all Germans during the 1930s and 1940s are supportive of Nazis. And to publicly express such contrasting opinion will likely get them and their families arrested and "taken away."

I think he will be most criticized for his support of the document Dominus Iesus, which in summary states that non-Christians will not be granted Salvation. This may backfire him when he must continue to strengthen the dialogue between the relations of the Catholic Church and other religions, including Islam, a task started by his friend John Paul II (who BTW endorsed said document).

[Aldaron]

Actually, I think the fact of Ratzinger's age indicates just what the Cardinals are trying to accomplish. By electing someone who is an arch-conservative, but elderly, they are sending the message that change is a comin', but not quite yet.

Picking a younger, more liberal candidate would have been too much, too soon after JPII's conservatism. Whereas going for Ratzinger means that, yeah, conservatism is still the order of the day, but it won't be for 26 years this time...

*shrug* All in my not-so-humble-opinion, of course!