# The Pope calls for a new armed Crusade.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pope-calls-for-a-new-armed-crusade/662404>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [July 2, 2013, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pope-calls-for-a-new-armed-crusade/662404 "2013-07-02T00:36:52Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\
**Post date:** [July 2, 2013, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pope-calls-for-a-new-armed-crusade/662404/21 "2013-07-02T21:49:41Z")

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> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#):
>
> I thought we established during the Popey retirement threads that there was no procedure for removing a sitting Pope, regardless of whether he’s sane. Frankly, it seems to me that if you leave the matter of selection up to the Holy Ghost, and HG’s choice goes nuts, it must be God’s will.

I am not sure that “we established” any such thing. While there have only been two popes who have chosen to abdicate, several others have been “encouraged” to find other things to do with their time.

As to the Holy Ghost’s choices, the RCC has not opposed the use of lightning rods in a very long time. No historically aware Catholic would ever deny that there have been “bad” popes, incompetent popes and even evil popes.

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**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\
**Post date:** [July 2, 2013, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pope-calls-for-a-new-armed-crusade/662404/22 "2013-07-02T22:00:17Z")

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Catholics won’t even forego contraception at the Pope’s request, let alone quit thier job, find a sitter for the kids and buy a plane ticket to Jerusalem.

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**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\
**Post date:** [July 2, 2013, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pope-calls-for-a-new-armed-crusade/662404/23 "2013-07-02T22:25:22Z")

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> [@tomndebb](#):
>
> No historically aware Catholic would ever deny that there have been “bad” popes, incompetent popes and even evil popes.

IIRC, Dante even went to the length of placing some popes in Hell. And you’ll see many tonsured heads and more than a few bishop’s miters in medieval artistic depictions of Hell, too.

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**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\
**Post date:** [July 2, 2013, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pope-calls-for-a-new-armed-crusade/662404/24 "2013-07-02T22:36:43Z")

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The Pope will only call for a crusade if you give him plenty of florins and have built enough cathedrals lately. But it’s been several hundred turns since the last Crusade, so that one’s no problem.

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**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\
**Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pope-calls-for-a-new-armed-crusade/662404/25 "2013-07-03T06:55:24Z")

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> [@Latro](#):
>
> What, he wrote that bit of speech himself and it wasn’t reviewed by anyone?
> 
> Is that really how you think public adresses work?
> 
> **After that speech** it had become necessary to make regular statements that ‘No, no, no that isn’t what he meant.’

Considering Bush visited a mosque right after 9-11, it goes much further than that.

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