His name is his name. He may be your Pope, but he's not mine. E.g., Americans address Judi Dench as Judi Dench, not Dame. Her title is not recognized by our non-royal system.
I may be anti-Catholic, but only when Catholicism goes against God's word. I know and work with Catholics, and discuss many issues with them. Every sect, and every Christian, veers off from God's word on certain issues; what is small-minded is a prevailing Catholic attitude that they are not part of the greater Christian community and must submit themselves, like all other Christians, to the cause of theological unity, at the cost of sectarianism.
If you have corresponded with me at all, you know I engage on the issues and listen to all sides. So, in your own words, three short sentences, why is Ratzinger facing Mecca to pray when it is a meaningless ritual of a false religion?
And what is a blob?
While we haven't conversed, I've read enough of your posts to know what I think of your arguments.
Blob is a typo for blog.
Before Vatican II, our altars always faced East(Jerusalem). I think Pope Benedict knows where Jerusalem is. The fact the media think it's Mecca is meaningless.
While he was pre-16: Meanwhile Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Vatican's powerful doctrinal office, has written a new book in which he suggests that priests turn away from the people in order to face east during portions of the Mass. He also supported placing tabernacles in a central location in churches and endorsed a "renewed appreciation" of kneeling. All are customs associated with pre-Vatican II liturgical piety.
And then there is the fact that Islam, which came along 600 years after Christ, always had elements of Christianity they claim as their own. They are the ones imitating Christians with regard to facing East...not the other way around.