New Pope Vows to Work to Unify Christians

Yahoo News ^ | April 20, 2005 | NICOLE WINFIELD

[NYer]

Pope Benedict XVI leads mass in the Sistine Chapel in this frame from TV on Wednesday, April 20, 2005. Pope Benedict XVI pledged on Wednesday to continue the liberalizing reforms of the Second Vatican Council and to work to unify all Christians, as he outlined goals following an election that sent a signal the church was intent on sticking to tradition as it confronts 21st-century problems. Benedict, the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, listed top priorities of his pontificate in a message read in Latin to cardinals gathered in the Sistine Chapel for the first Mass celebrated by the 265th leader of the Roman Catholic Church. (AP Photo / Vatican TV via APTN)

[fatnotlazy]

This is all very good to hear. Thanks!

[reformjoy]

I can't believe some people are thrilled
that a Hitler's Youth is selected for the Pope!

(ah, he was just a kid then....)

Anyone who is brainwashed and indoctrinated
is under another's control. Perhaps forever.

Was he deprogrammed? Probably not. Even this new
Pope may not know the evil influences he is under.

[NYer]

"The cardinals elected a good and holy man who was close to Pope John Paul II," he said. "He'll be a wonderful and good leader in preaching the truth and love."

Catholic Ping - Please freepmail me if you want on/off this list

[reformjoy]

I really don't want the Pope uniting Christians.

I really don't want the United Nations uniting Countries.

Sorry, but I just can't give this kind of power
to one man or one organization.

Why are people these days so eager for the Uniter?

There is only one man of peace,
and that is Christ.

[pa mom]

I know, when they taught me the secret Catholic handshake after the took the electrodes off, I knew my life had changed forever . . .

[NYer]

I can't believe some people are thrilled that a Hitler's Youth is selected for the Pope!

Do your homework before posting this garbage.

[goldstategop]

Every one was Catholic before the Reformation. Apart from the Orthodox who split five centuries earlier. Christendom once meant, if you confine the definition to the West, the Latin Church. It will take more than good will to unify Christians again.

(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)

[sinkspur]

said American Cardinal Adam Maida. "So I believe that Cardinal Ratzinger, with all his gifts and talents and even some of his shortcomings, will somehow be able to reach others."

Not exactly a ringing endorsement.

[Military family member]

I can't believe you are holding an action against this man, one that he could not control.

Did you miss the part where when forced to man an anti-aircraft gun, he deserted and was a POW.

[sinkspur]

Christendom once meant, if you confine the definition to the West, the Latin Church. It will take more than good will to unify Christians again.

Yes it will. Which is why, if Ratzinger is serious about pursuing Christian unity, you will not hear him repeat his statement that non-Catholic churches are "deficient."

[AnAmericanMother]

You're jumping to conclusions. In 1942, membership was compulsory. Every German boy was required to join. No "programming" involved.

Benedict didn't recall even attending a meeting. A sympathetic professor in his minor seminary filled out the papers for him and told him not to bother showing up. He would have been expelled from school had the prof not filled out the papers for him. He describes the prof as "a Nazi, but an honest man."

Later he was conscripted to serve in an AA battery. He deserted from that (which could have gotten him hanged - have you ever seen the pics of young teenage deserters hanging from lampposts?)

Usually, folks on FR don't start foaming at the mouth over stuff that is disseminated by the mainstream media. This pope is ultra-conservative, and the libs would love to get everybody believing that he was a Nazi.

Don't join in the lynch mob.

[BriarBey]

I really don't want the Pope uniting Christians.

I really don't want the United Nations uniting Countries.

Sorry, but I just can't give this kind of power
to one man or one organization.

Why are people these days so eager for the Uniter?
*****

Its called deception and since no one remembers the "Tower of Babel" and why we were split to begin with, they will rebuild that same tower........unfortunately with the same results.

[palmer]

Joy over the selection of a new pope immediately mixed with worries that Benedict could polarize a global church, whose challenges include growing secularism in rich countries and inroads by evangelical groups in regions such as Latin America.

Rather than "joy mixed with worries", I see only joy along with the usual liberal carping and sniping. I am not Catholic but I admire that religion for their tradition and substance. It sounds to me like the new Pope will strengthen those and slowly gain a new solid core of faithful. Then in a few hundred years after Europe emerges from the ruins of Islam and nihilism, there will be the Church waiting to welcome them back.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Most moronic post I've read so far today. But it's early; I'm sure you'll make more for us all to enjoy throughout the course of the day. :)

[pa mom]

I like it. I have heard Benedict described as humble, so perhaps he connects with his own failings. That would come through as great honesty in his writings and speeches.

I know one of the things I loved about JPII was that he was so darn cute. Like a granddad you'd love to sit and chat with even if he's a disciplinarian. That came as much from his humanity as from his postion as Pope.

[reformjoy]

It's amazing that news sources stress that new Pope was indeed, a Hitler's youth but for only a "brief time."

How long does it take
to corrupt your soul?

[palmer]

If his soul was indeed corrupted (which I doubt) he spent considerable time and effort redeeming it since.

[pa mom]

This has been done to death on other threads. If you dislike Catholics, fine, but you really aren't changing anyone's mind here.

[sinkspur]

I know one of the things I loved about JPII was that he was so darn cute. Like a granddad you'd love to sit and chat with even if he's a disciplinarian. That came as much from his humanity as from his postion as Pope.

BXVI (looks like an airport designator, doesn't it?) appears to start with a charm-deficit, for sure.