April 19, 2005
The Pope and I
So, the new pope. German. Very conservative. And very old.
And the uncle of a good friend of mine. The friend is Protestant, btw.
Don't blame me, OK? I didn't vote for him.
Posted by claudia at April 19, 2005 07:44 PMSteady Freddy?
Posted by: Natalie at April 19, 2005 07:50 PMI think it's a darn shame Cardinal Sin retired.
Posted by: Carlos at April 19, 2005 08:04 PM"I think it's a darn shame Cardinal Sin retired."
Too true, we were just laughing about that at work.
I'm kind of disappointed, though. I was hoping for something exotic, like Pope Lando II of Brazil or something. But this guy's already what, 77? Placeholder.
Posted by: Bernard Guerrero at April 19, 2005 08:25 PMSo, if you're friends with the Pope's nephew, that means the Pope and I are only separated by, what, 3 degrees?
That's.... interesting.
Posted by: Diane at April 19, 2005 08:42 PMFunny. The Ratzinger clan is larger than expected. Everybody knows one of his nieces or nephews... :)
Posted by: TH at April 19, 2005 08:45 PMActually 78 three days ago. Not likely to have a 26 year reign!! The radio commentators were commenting on his choice of name - Benedict. The last one had a very short reign. They weren't sure if they should read anything into that. Curiously, my husband had predicted that Benedict was the name he'd bet on. Not quite sure why. But he's amused to have been proven correct.
Time will tell what sort of reign he has.
Posted by: XineF at April 19, 2005 09:45 PMAnd then he fools us all by living to 97.
Posted by: Bruce at April 20, 2005 12:43 AMMaybe he will let you drive the pope-mobile!
Posted by: Larry at April 20, 2005 03:37 AM"Very conservative. And very old."
And very inevitable. Consider him, if you will, the Catholic Church's answer to Ezra Taft Benson.
Another analogy to help HwdtD's readers reconcile themselves to the inevitable is that nice George HW Bush, the father of the current POTUS. Bush senior largely continued the policies of his predecessor, without the same glitz. And, in retrospect, he doesn't seem so bad now?
[The more cynical might reach for an analogy of Barry Goldwater succeeding Reagan. Really!]
One thing that alarms me is all the references to Benedict XVI being "John Paul II without the charisma." As charisma has a traditional meaning of "the gifts of the Holy Spirit" a Bishop of Rome having such a lack is alarming but - for the amateur historian - not unprecedented.
Still, the new Pope Benedict may prove the most influential German on Christendom since Martin Luther. Whether he will provide as great a boost for Protestantism remains to be seen.
Posted by: Syd Webb at April 20, 2005 10:55 AMI forget whether it was Tim Harrod's or Joe Garden's movie pitch: someone mistakenly throws banana peels in the Vatican chimney, and out comes yellow smoke: a chimpanzee has been elected Pope! He takes the name Bananas I.
I think they wanted Steve Guttenberg as co-star.
There were roller-skating scenes mentioned.
Posted by: Carlos at April 20, 2005 03:20 PM