Vatican acknowledges that pope has had pacemaker

[SecularMotion]

Source: Associated Press

The Vatican is acknowledging for the first time that Pope Benedict XVI has had a pacemaker for years and that its battery was replaced a few months ago in secret.

Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi said Benedict had the pacemaker installed "a long time" before he became pope in 2005. He called the latest medical procedure "routine."

It was the first time the Vatican has mentioned a papal pacemaker.

Read more: http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/viewart/20130212/NEWS03/130212007/Vatican-acknowledges-pope-has-had-pacemaker

[TwilightGardener]

1. The guy's 85. No one is stunned that his ticker needs a little extra juice.

Why bother keeping it a secret?

[bucolic_frolic]

2. Because Medical science conflicts with God's will?

I don't know.

I think he's old, and deserves peace and relaxation.

He would set a bold standard if he acknowledged there is an age
for public officials to step aside.

The world seems to teeter between youthful radicals and
aging monoliths.

Just being old doesn't make one wise.

[TwilightGardener]

4. I agree. I'm sorta still Catholic, myself, and while I don't exactly love this guy,

I give him credit for taking himself out of the picture when he's frail. Hopefully the Church will pick someone who has the youth and energy to finally resolve the Church's BIG problems in a modern way (meaning, no more abuse denials and cover-ups, and no more ignoring or denying social changes).

[onehandle]

5. Catholic hospitals are among the best in the world and the Vatican embraces science.

Including global warming and evolution.

You're thinking of fundies.

[AtheistCrusader]

8. Yet condoms are worse than aids...

To say nothing of family planning, which is essential for families living in poverty.


"Church teaching on the use of condoms

Pope Benedict XVI has said it was acceptable to use a prophylactic when the sole intention was to "reduce the risk of infection" from AIDS. Pope Benedict XVI has restated the Catholic Church’s believes that contraception interferes with the creation of life, but using a condom to preserve life and avoid death could be a responsible act – even outside marriage.-->[8][9][10][11] Unlike drugs and surgical procedures, however, the current consensus is that using condoms during sex is morally contraceptive and thus a sin.

While condoms might serve as a largely effective barrier to the transmission of HIV, condoms also impermissibly impede the procreative aspect of the sexual act which is understood by the Church to have a deeply theological meaning. As such, their use is forbidden. Theology aside, Church officials deny that their teaching against condom use is followed by those same people who flout Church teaching on illicit sexual activity, such as its absolute condemnation of anal intercourse between men.

A common position of Church leaders is that officially permitting condom use as a method of preventing disease could be interpreted as permitting fornication, which degrades and debases sex."

[onehandle]

9. Yep. They do have unfortunate rules. nt

[lunatica]

7. Being old doesn't make someone useless either

Talk about ageism!

[Posteritatis]

10. Aside - and it's a big aside - from the whole uterus problem...

... the Catholics are generally pretty decent on medical matters.

John Paul II enjoyed learning about what contemporary medicine can do, was a fan of the work being done in, e.g., artificial organs, and was even cautiously optimistic about the possible applications of genetic engineering. The standard caveats about The Dignity Of The Person apply of course, but they should apply anyway and that sort of phrase is just maximal brain candy to theologians in the first place.

Benedict's a bigger tool than a typical bucket-wheel extractor on a lot of issues, but what little I've heard on his take on stuff like that suggests he was still in the "I'm cool with this" camp.

That said, the fact that he's stepping aside at all is a pretty bold standard for the church. The last two resignations were for political reasons and for what amount to "I told you guys I didn't want this job" reasons; a pope acknowledging that it's time to step aside, not because of his age, but because he physically can't do the job, is a big deal for them.

(Also, be careful: just being old doesn't make one incompetent, either. I know plenty of people two or three times my age who could skate rings around my mind despite the state of their bodies.)

[tavalon]

3. Wow, he and Dick Cheney always seemed to lack a heart.

[beac]

6. Is "pacemaker" Latin for

"about-to-explode-scandal"?