Is the Pope toast?

[TalkingDog]

Does a bear shit in the woods?

http://www.newser.com/off-the-grid/post/417/is-the-pope-toast.html

This isn’t getting much attention in the US, but it’s a big one: The Pope’s in trouble.

Trouble, trouble. Not-going-away trouble. Run-out-of-office trouble. It’s a potentially transformative moment in matters of religion and of power, wherein even the infallible turns out to be vulnerable. Some of us live for such moments.

It’s the priest sex story, the same one we’ve already done—and done. But now it’s popping up in Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands, all markets which make the American news media yawn. But come on. The priest sex story is one of the best we’ve had. It’s one of the ones that the media of our time is going to be remembered for. It’s the ultimate destruction of facade; the giving of voice to silence; the catching of deer and hypocrites in the headlights. It’s our triumph.

[asdjrocky]

1. I hear his bosses body is made of bread.

:shrug: So, could be?

[rhett o rick]

47. If you are referring to Jesus, I dont think he will claim any responsibility for the Pope. nt

[TheCowsCameHome]

2. Tea party, Coffee party, and now Pope toast

I'm getting hungry just reading DU.

[BlueIris]

65. Win. nt

[DJ13]

3. Why yes he is

[BrklynLiberal]

12. That is very well done..in so many different ways.

[grantcart]

20. For some reason it reminded me of Homer Simpson

And wouldnt that be a funny episode!

[sendero]

69. Aren't propane torches..

.... versatile? :)

[anonymous171]

4. Did the pope infallibly declare himself innocent of all involvement in these incidents?

I agree that this is big, but don't overstate it.

[TalkingDog]

13. Take it up with the author. Or read the article, THEN take it up with the author.

If you want to post your opinion, great. But do me and the author the courtesy of at least pretending to pay attention.

[anonymous171]

14. ACK. I thought you adding your own commentary.

My bad

[DefenseLawyer]

5. I don't think the Vatican will extradite him

I wouldn't hold my breath.

[Bluebear]

6. That would be Der Toast. nt

[NRaleighLiberal]

7. so how much of the vatican's obscene wealth will be used to protect him?

An obsolete religion that's become not only a nice, profitable business, but is responsible for so much damage. But I guess that's organized religion for ya

[anonymous171]

11. Most social ills in America can be blamed on Protestantism, not Catholicism. nt

[NRaleighLiberal]

16. I am not limiting it to damage in our country.

Obviously I am not a catholic - my wife and most of her family left the church over the years. Obsolete.

And I am not saying that the protestant religions are any better. Hell, we live deep in the bible belt surrounded by hypocrites. But I am not an atheist - just think that the mind control and cult/joiner aspect of organized religion does more harm than good.

[eridani]

18. You and ;most of the Founding Fathers

You're in good company there.

[pf99]

19. Agree but

As a Catholic I think our churh can do much better

[leeroysphitz]

71. I don't see any difference. Voodoo is voodoo. n/t

[bridgit]

8. Does the pope wear a funny hat?

[gmoney]

70. "Yeah Glen, I guess it is kinda funny..."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHB7IZDc_tg

1:40

[Cha]

9. The Pope who's always butting

his nose into other people's business is being exposed for a coverup? What's not to appreciate?

[tularetom]

10. They'll circle the wagons

They're gonna try to tough it out.

Deny everything, admit nothing, blame it on some dead guy.

Look at the lengths they go to just to protect a low ranking priest.

They will never throw the Pope to the wolves.

Even though they should.

[TalkingDog]

15. Blame on a dead guy? Maybe they could blame it on Jesus.

Or make up some scriptural defense like they've done for centuries.

[DefenseLawyer]

17. Blame the devil!

Come on. They should stick with what got them here.

[Wabbajack_]

21. He can't exactly be voted out

[TalkingDog]

57. Well....not VOTED out...See reply #56 n/t

[saltpoint]

22. From the time the Cardinals selected him it seemed to me there was

going to be a charm deficit with this new Pope.

Setting aside specific objections to his ideology, which for me are significant, he lacks the warmth of his predecessor.

It would do a world of good if he held a press conference and announced that women, namely half the world's population, would from that point forward be free and encouraged to become priests in the Church, should they so desire to serve in that way. It does not seem to me that you begin to overcome institutional difficulties by enforcing discriminatory prohibitions on half the population of the earth. I am definitely not getting that part at all.

[HughMoran]

23. I like Pope-on-a-Rope

[RainDog]

24. rope-a-dope pope

[Truth2Tell]

25. Maybe we'll end up with Pope on a rope...

[Truth2Tell]

59. Wow. Triple simultaneous posts. Only on DU. nt

[malaise]

61. Hilarious

:rofl:

[omega minimo]

26. Is the Pope a rodent?

[hisownpetard]

27. If he were, we could sell him on e-Bay.

[MannyGoldstein]

28. The Pope Will Fire Himself?

It ain't exactly a Democracy.

I think that God's Rottweiler is quite secure in his post.

[unkachuck]

29. I think the Nazi Pope....

....definitely has a major problem....what I don't understand is why so many people are still willingly to follow a religion in which so many of it's Priests molest young children....a religion in which so many of it's officials have turned a blind-eye to moral and physical crimes....

....has molesting young children become Godly?....there are plenty of religions out there, choose a less perverted one....

[fujiyama]

40. I don't know. Why people follow many of the religions they do is a mystery to me!

Shit, the biggest mystery for me is Islam. But yet, there ya go. It has over a billion followers too.

[RainDog]

30. hmmm

[jakefrep]

31. No

What the hell can they do to him? It's not like he can be voted out.

[progressoid]

64. The Illuminati will send an albino from Opus Dei to take care ot him.

:eyes:

[RainDog]

32. via your link - a sister calls the pedophelia cover-ups a crime against humanity

...No rules and no laws of any religious organization or denomination should be allowed to trump the laws of a civilized society where the protection of children is concerned.

The Roman Catholic Church should be held to the highest standard as a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, a Convention that by any objective standard it has grossly violated for decades.

Isn't it time to formalize those violations as the crimes against humanity they truly are?

Sister Maureen Paul Turlish
Victims' Advocate
New Castle, Delaware, USA

this is in the comments section.

[marybourg]

42. The pope & his minions are obviously only concerned about "the child"

when it's still a fetus inside a grown woman.

[TankLV]

33. No. The pope is a man - a charlatan and former NAZI - but just a man...

Toast is something you bake to eat...and actually benefits society...as opposed to this fucking jerk...

[salguine]

34. I'm not Catholic, so I don't know how this stuff works, but—can popes be removed? Is there

any kind of process for that, or precedent for it? Just curious.

[DaveinJapan]

54. Nope, they can't be removed (unless I missed something).

The Pope is not only given the whole "infallible" treatment, but he also happens to be the supreme monarch of Vatican city and from there the entire church. So anyone going after him could easily be removed BY him (kinda like what Nixon tried to do, but the Pope could actually pull it off).

A Pope CAN and has stepped down, however. If the pressure got too ridiculous, I'd imagine it might be possible and blamed on "health reasons", but that's about it.

[TalkingDog]

56. There is precedent going back to the beginnings of the Church

It usually involved a little something in the food or drink.

http://media.isnet.org/kristen/Ensiklopedia/AssassinatedPontiffs.html

A pretty standard practice for monarchies or other powerful roles where power is transfered directly by appointment or by intrigue. And if your politics aren't kosher (so to speak) or "heretical" or will harm the profit margin (as this scandal might) then, it is best just to clear house and start over, as the conspiracy theories suggest with this poor guy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_John_Paul_I in office for a mere 33 days


His sins?

The moral theology of John Paul I has been described by some as being very liberal, to the extent that it may have stood a chance of reversing the Church's opposition to birth control if he had lived longer.

One of his remarks, reported in the press, was that the Lord was not only the father, but also the mother.

And probably what got him axed....He wanted to substantiate the finances of the Vatican.

[Richard Steele]

35. No- I like toast. Toast never Hieled Hitler, nor has it ever conspired with Child-rapists....

To the best of my knowledge, the Pope and toast
are two very different things.

[HeresyLives]

36. Nominated for 'Best Headline Ever.'

[jmondine]

37. Is a heated up piece of bread Catholic?

[TexasObserver]

38. I won't be surprised if this pope "suddenly takes ill."

The Lord works in mysterious ways when Catholic hierarchy is involved.

Could you assemble a group you'd trust less than the College of Cardinals?

By hook or crook, he's probably on the way out.

[garybeck]

39. I believe Nostradamus predicted this is the last Pope. n/t

[Joe the Revelator]

43. You're thinking of the Papel Prophecy, and it wasn't Nostradamus, and Ratz wasn't predicted to be

final pope...its the next one who will reign during the "final persecution of the catholic church"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prophecy_of_the_Popes

[Hekate]

41. Oh come now. The last time a pope was deposed was centuries ago. Pope Ratzi's not going anywhere...

He's a very conservative elderly gent with way more power than is good for any mortal soul, part of an institution that counts its lineage back 2,000 years. They've seen empires rise and fall, countries come and go, they've done some good in the world -- and created untold of misery, sad to say.

And Mother Church has done it all with the utter certainty that God is on their side.

Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II both worked on opening up the institution to the 20th century and giving more voice and scope to women -- but the election of Cardinal Ratzinger, late of the (I kid you not) Office of the Inquisition, was a huge step backward. Just huge.

If that one ever publicly admits fault, I will eat my hat.

Hekate

[Phoonzang]

44. You don't want this Pope to be toast

Once Gloria Olivae is gone, the only one left is Petrus Romanus...the last Pope. Then...the end.

[saltpoint]

48. One Pope over the line sweet Jesus.

[Warren DeMontague]

50. "one toke? Poor bastard. Wait'll you see those god-damn bats"

[saltpoint]

53. "And my attorney, that sorry sonofabitch -- he'll see them soon enough!"

[Warren DeMontague]

49. I'll let that particular strand of gibberish fight it out with the phony Mayan prophecies of doom.

The dude represents a thoroughly corrupt organization that is not only wrong on the major questions of science and reality, but also directly harms large segements of humanity by issuing ridiculous directives on subjects like contraception and gay marriage.

If he 'is gone', good riddance. Maybe someone sane will be put in charge over there, but I won't hold my breath.

[scarletwoman]

51. It's the Popeacalypse!

We are, like, SOOOOO doomed! :scared:

[Warren DeMontague]

52. I think they should stage, like, a breakdancing pope-off.

Shake things up a little.

[scarletwoman]

55. And the loser will get his heart cut out at the top of a Mayan temple.

I think we've got some real possibilities here.

[TalkingDog]

58. Now I'm torn

between you and the "jam guy" upthread as to which post has amused me more.

[Phoonzang]

62. Relax. It was a joke. n/t

[Warren DeMontague]

72. If you don't want people to take you seriously, sir

you should come up with a sillier handle than "phoonzang".

...er, wait.

;-)

Anyway, point taken. My bad.

[BlueIris]

66. I was just going to post that.

Somehow, I think we'll survive beyond Peter the Roman, though. JMO.

[saltpoint]

45. In a month Benedict will be 83 years old.

It could be that Time will claim him fairly soon.

Not that many of us, Popes included, live past 90 or 100.

[Warren DeMontague]

46. And it's about time. He issued an internal directive to shield child abusers from the law.

I mean, this story is, what, 5 years old right here?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2005/apr/24/children.childprotection

Ratzinger's letter states that the church can claim jurisdiction in cases where abuse has been 'perpetrated with a minor by a cleric'.

The letter states that the church's jurisdiction 'begins to run from the day when the minor has completed the 18th year of age' and lasts for 10 years.

It orders that 'preliminary investigations' into any claims of abuse should be sent to Ratzinger's office, which has the option of referring them back to private tribunals in which the 'functions of judge, promoter of justice, notary and legal representative can validly be performed for these cases only by priests'.

Helping criminal child abusers escape law enforcement? Isn't that- ought'nt that be- against some international law? Why is this guy still free?

[upi402]

60. I love it when the curtain gets pulled back on Oz

Like it has been pulled back on the facade of a Democratic Party we have. Lets hope these Bush-loving phonies get taken to the big confessional of reality.

[DeSwiss]

63. Is the Pope toast?

- Let us pray......

K&R

[tekisui]

67. Good. Hope he takes the whole Vatican with him.

[marmar]

68. I doubt it....The Catholic hierarchy has shown that it's incapable of letting go of the 14th century

nt