By the light of day, that is. But by knight, he’s one hell of a lover!
I assumed cougar was referring to eard callused from altar boys pulling on both of the ears.
Ah, I see.
The cardinals are now meeting in “General Congregations” to think, discuss, schmooze and oh-so-discreetly campaign: http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2013/03/06/electing-a-pope-whats-taking-so-long/?hpt=hp_c1
Conclave begins next Tuesday. I’m not catholic, and I’m not particularly religious, but I find the whole conclave and papal election to be utterly fascinating. I was fascinated the last time, and I am again this time. I’m actually excited for the conclave, even though the result has absolutely no bearing on me whatsoever. Odd, perhaps.
I’m not Catholic either, and I feel the same way. The history, intrigue, politicking, pomp and circumstance are quite interesting. Here’s CNN.com’s video explanation of how the voting works: http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/08/world/europe/vatican-pope-selection/index.html?hpt=hp_t3
It’s interesting to watch this stuff unfold. But at some point you have to remember that they’re going to pick an old or old-ish guy who is opposed to contraception, gay marriage, and the ordination of women. Probably he’ll be a white European, possibly not. And not too long after the new guy is confirmed, he’ll start saying and doing things that offend liberals and reformist Catholics, and people will start speculating about when he’ll keel over so the church can nominate a new guy who really gets the modern world.
How many men who become Catholic priests can be said to “get the modern world” at any age? It’s gotta be a very small number, and I imagine they are not exactly racing up the career ladder. I’m thinking they won’t get, um, normal recruits until the rules on celibacy and marriage for priests are tossed aside, opening the door to a large pool of men who can still be happy about, er, lording it over women.
Or to put it another way, we won’t get a modern pope until we get normal priests. And we won’t get normal priests until we get a modern pope.
I wouldn’t speculate about that. But when you look at the men who become cardinals and possible popes, I think you’re looking at a very conservative group (after all, they get ahead by impressing the previous generation) that’s going to be very devoted to church teachings and will probably be decades behind the latest social trends, if not more than that. Every time a new Pope is chosen people seem to lose sight of that. We always hear that there are reformers and liberals in the church, but it’s a very relative term.
I think maybe you’re saying something I’m not.
In case I was unclear, I think getting the celibacy/marriage rules would be a deal breaker for a very large number of religious men who might otherwise consider it. I think the rules relegating women to (at best) secondary status would be a deal breaker for a far smaller group of men. So changing the first set of rules would theoretically result in a large influx of men who are ok with keeping women subservient.
Something I hadn’t considered – how about gay recruits? I don’t know if the percentage of gay priests is any higher or lower than the general population, but the church’s anti-gay policies hasn’t prevented recruitment of gay men, though I’d guess the numbers are lower than they might otherwise be. OTOH, perhaps the present celibacy rules have actually increased the recruitment of those gay men who are both deeply religious and ashamed of their homosexual desires, and look to the church to help them suppress the desires and/or control the activity.
Nobody would’ve predicted, for instance, that John XXIII would call Vatican II. You can never tell what the future may hold; I think the RCC may only be a pope or two away from some major changes, including the option of marriage for clergy, and a much larger role for women, incl. perhaps becoming priests. Mainstream Protestant denominations have done it, and the RCC could too, someday.
Yeah, I’ve observed that many people seem to aspire to sometime see a Pope who’ll turn the RCC into something resembling the ELCA, and that’s just not happening on this go-round. A majority of the voting (under age 80) Cardinals were frocked red by Benedict and the rest by JP2 in the later part of his reign so it’s highly unlikely that any revolutionaries or harcore liberal reformists will even get close to sitting in that chair.
Actually, there is a good chance that he will not be European. There are now a lot of Third World cardinals (although nothing resembling a majority) and there have been rumors from some bishops in Europe and North America that “it is time” for a Third World pope.
Of course, that brings its own problems from the perspective of those wanting change. A significant number of the leaders from Third World countries are rather more conservative than the Europeans. There has been a serious effort in the U.S. to shape the hierarchy so as to put the brakes on the “excesses” following Vatican II, but even they tend to think in terms of the twentieth century. A number of the Third World bishops have sprung from cultures that see the European Enlightenment as a step backward for humanity. (There are others who are quite forward looking, but in my observations, they tend to be outnumbered.)
I make no predictions; I simply note that a lot of assumptions by folks who do not regularly pay attention to the inner workings of the RCC may be based on false impressions or outdated information.
Yes, I know - there is to be a lot of talk about the cardinal from Ghana and one or two cardinals from Argentina. I remember there was a lot of speculation about this in 2005 and it didn’t happen. Maybe it’s inevitable at some point, but I don’t know if it’s going to happen right now.
I always thought the chimney of the smoke that announces a new pope was always there, turns out it has to be added for the occasion of a Pope’s election.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/03/08/3274042/vatican-conclave-likely-to-start.html
No modern devices are allowed that could connect the cardinals to the outside world, but you know the trust that they have on them when modern jamming devices are installed.
Another thing I did not know, after 2005 to ensure that there is no confusion that the smoke coming out is white (new pope elected) or black (no pope yet), the smoke is enhanced with other stoves with material that clearly comes out as white or black smoke.
You mean God couldn’t intervene to make the smoke one color or another?
This is a good blog about Vatican goings-on - worth a read: Whispers in the Loggia: Habemus Datam – Conclave Starts Tuesday
Cool site, thanks for the link.
I think it’s kind of neat to have the smoke tradition. There are enough tweets and twits that tweet, so we have a quaint tradition that could be modernized. But what good would it do? From the time the vote is final to the time the new pope appears on the balcony isn’t that long. So we have to look at the smoke and try to figure out if it’s black or white. That’s all part of the majesty, much like singing My Old Kentucky Home on that first Saturday in May.
On the political maneuvering that goes on before and during a conclave: Conclave: The Secretive End To Unannounced Campaigns For Pope | HuffPost Religion
One bit of bad news for one of the frontrunners: Cardinal Scola.