Posted on 03/31/2005 2:41:41 AM PST by Robert Drobot
MUMBAI: As Pope John Paul II remains hospitalised, the names of prelates from Asia, Africa and Latin America, including that of an Indian archbishop, figure in the list of those who are likely to succeed him, a media report said.
Mumbai's archbishop Ivan Diaz, a friend of Mother Teresa, figures in the list, international weekly magazine BusinessWeek said in an article titled Why The Next Pope May Be A Surprise.
When contacted, Diaz' office dismissed the report as 'rubbish' and said the archbishop will not entertain interviews on the matter.
The College of Cardinals will select a Pope when John Paul passes on.
But when the time comes for a conclave to anoint a new pontiff to lead the world's 1.1 billion Catholics, John Paul's influence will still be considerable, the weekly said. He has appointed 115 of the 120 cardinals eligible to elect the next Pope, all with an eye to enforcing his conservative stance on issues like abortion, the role of women in the church, homosexuality, and bioethics, it said.
Would a weaving of non-Roman Catholic practices be acceptable to an Indian bishop elected pope?
But then, non-Roman Catholic pageantry and ritual has already been made part of church services; the content of which purposely mocks Roman Catholic reverence and purpose of Holy Mass.
Nigerian
I thought the rule was the the Pope had to be a white guy from Europe?
"...enforcing his conservative stance on issues like abortion, the role of women in the church, homosexuality, and bioethics, it said."
His "conservative stance" has little to do with it. The final authority is Biblical and is God's. Interesting married priests are left out of that statement since that and only that in the list is actually negotiable.
Feelings trump morality, grace, and even The Commandments.
This is the sort of "spin" news story we need to watch carefully.
I have more than a passing acquaintance with this bishop. Describing him as a "friend of Mother Teresa" is designed to garner support for him and get some traction going. This is a very misleading use of Blessed Mother Teresa's name.
I do not want to express an opinion contrary to the will of the Most Holy Trinity, so if he is the Lord's choice for Pope then I will pray for him. But in good conscience I must pray that he is not elected as Pontiff.
No.
No such rule.
When was the last Pope that wasn't?
Dear thoughtomator,
The absolute rule is that the pope must be a baptized Catholic male.
sitetest
Dear thoughtomator,
This is from a site called "Pope Chart."
http://www.popechart.com/facts.htm
264 popes
- 205 were Italians, (106 Romans)
- 19 Frenchmen
- 14 Greeks
- 8 Syrians
- 5 Germans
- 3 Africans
- 2 Spaniards
- 1 Austrian
- 1 Palestinian
- 1 Englishman
- 1 Dutchman
- 1 Pole
sitetest
First of all the logic you are using is somewhat flawed. Just because something has not happened does not automatically imply it cannot happen or there is a rule against it happening. All it means is it has not happened, yet. For example there has never been a woman US president, or a minority US prsident. But that doesn't mean there is a law saying here cannot be one. Also before Calvin Coolidge there had never been a Congregationalist US president, and before JFK never a Catholic US president. There has to be a first time for everything. An even more base example is global circumnavigation when people thought the world had an edge where ships would either fall off or be swallowed by drakes and dragons.
Just because something hasn't occured yet doesn't mean there is a rule against it.
My second point deals with the papacy directly. There have been major changes in the last half century, many of them obvious, and a good number having to do with the fact that most Catholics in the world are no longer in Europe. The great Catholic centers today are in South America and Africa in terms of quantity, and South America and Goa, India in terms of density. It is also in this places where the faith is still quite ardently held (no Sunday church tourism but true adherence by the larger part of the congregration). Infact last year there was talk of 'exporting' South American and African priests to the west due to a lack of clergy here.
Anyways, Catholicism is no longer limited to Rome and greater Europe.
However the most important aspect is what has been going on in the Papacy before the current Pope. When Pope Paul VI died in 1978, Karol Wojtyla, the Cardinal Archbishop of Krakow, Poland, became Pope John Paul II. He was the first non-Italian pope in over 400 years to be come pope. That was a huge step in 1978 since it was something that hadn't occured in over 4 centuries (it had occured obviously before then).
Moreover look at the current nominies. The fore-runners are one Brazilian, one African, an Indian, and 2 Italians. IF there was a rule saying 'no non-whites' (which would be immesnely stupid considering over 50% of practicing Catholics are in South America, and a good chunk of the others in Africa and parts of Asia). The next pope is up in the air, because each of the gentlemen above are worthy and each has their own camp of supporters (although bthe Brazilian and the Nigerian seem to be slightly ahead, but that doesn't mean a thing in papal elections. Who knows, an Italian pope might be elected, but that will not be due to some nefarious 'rule').
Anyways, there is no such rule. And just because something has not happened does not mean that it is indicative of a rule against it.
this places = these places.
So if I were to suggest that despite only 2 of 5 contenders being European, they have together a better than 50% chance of one of them being selected as the next Pope, would you think that a misjudgement? I'd like to see what it really turns out to be. Catholicism is not new to either Africa or South America, yet the former continent hasn't supplied a Pope in 1600 years, and the latter has never had one of its members chosen. With regards to the size of Catholic populations, it seems that there is at least a custom of choosing Europeans for that post out of proportion to their numbers.
Yes it was very informative, thanks sitetest.
Dear thoughtomator,
I think it's probably more likely that the next pope will be white guy from Europe than otherwise.
Just not against the rules otherwise.
And this time around, I think there's a strong (but not as much as 50%) chance that we'll have a non-European.
sitetest
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