WILL INDIAN PONTIFF SUCCEED POPE?

[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.

[spetznaz]

Actually you would not be wrong. Not at all. And anyways one thing that can be written in stone when it comes to Papal elections is anything is possible. The next Pope might be someone no one has even thought of (in the same way the current Pope was a shocker when he was elected). I don't know about the 50% figure, but i do know nothing would shock me much.

There is a big chance that the next Pope will be Italian. While many of the Cardinals support the great work that Pope John Paul II did there are a couple (albeit powerful) who feel that he has interfered too much with the authority of the bishops and priests worldwide. It is time, they say, to re-emphasise the pope's role as the Bishop of Rome. Leading candidates from Italy range from the relatively liberal Cardinal Martini, Archbishop of Milan, to the more conservative Secretary of State, Cardinal Sodano, one of the most powerful men in the Vatican.

Hence there is a sizeable chunk that the next pope might be an Italian.

But there is still an enormous possibility that the next Pope will be Nigerian Cardinal, Francis Arinze. He heads interfaith dialogue at the Vatican, an area of increasing importance to the church as it tries to engage with the non-Christian world. Or the Brazilian Cardinal Neve. Or an Indian cardinal (i cannot recall his name right now).

I guess the good thing is that all of these men are more than qualified, and hopefully they will continue with the amazing work that Pope John Paul II did. In my opinion (as well as those of many others) this Pope was just as important as PResident Ronald Reagan in crushing the dastardly head of Communism. And i am not even a Catholic.

[thoughtomator]

I'll join you guys in praying that the best man wins. I'm not a Catholic either, but I consider all Christians to be allies against those who hate God and His works.

[sitetest]

LOL.

I guess I'm the only one here who swears submission to the Roman Pontiff.

;-)

[thoughtomator]

Yeah, for me I'm more interested in seeing the positive effects of a strong and righteous Pope, than concerned with who he might be or the specifics of what he might say. One doesn't have to be Catholic to recognize the importance of the Church in pushing back the forces of evil that run rampant in this world.

[sitetest]

Dear thoughtomator,

Well, as a Catholic, I appreciate your prayers, especially to the Holy Spirit.


sitetest

[Doohickey]

They're thinking of outsourcing...

[airborne]

Time for an American?

[sitetest]

Who?

[airborne]

Fox News has just announced - Pope John Paul II has died.

[birg]

If there were "rules" about ethnicity, the Pope would likely
have been Jewish...... to maintain the tradition

[airborne]

I searched for an answer to "Who?" and while researching, came accross so many articles about how there would be no chance for an American Pope.

Turns out that the world hates America for it's power and wealth, so the Vatican will never choose an American for such a powerful position. Seems we have "too much power already!"

[RightWhale]

It is somewhat interesting that of the major leading candidates, none of which can be known with certainty outside of the election committee, many have merited a 'what if' article of their own. The committe could choose anyone. If the candidate is not qualified, any deficiency can be maded up in ten minutes. Just male, Roman Catholic, and single, the basics need to be in place already.

[dangus]

From what I hear, what has distinguished Diaz from other Indian Arhcbishops is his insistenced on liturgical norms. Keep in mind, he is a close friend of Mother Therese, whose sanctity helped generate 85,000 religous vocations in India. Most of the rest of the Indian hierarchy are spiritually descended from the same sort of goody-two-shoes who preached Liberation Theology all across Latin America.

[dangus]

Thanks for the reminder: This is Business Week associating him with Mother Therese.

[dangus]

The Pope is Bishop of Rome, and head of the curia. The Cardinals were originally the chief priests from around Rome. Even though long ago, they were expanded to France, etc., to make the Bishop of Rome more universally representative, for reasons of simple geography, the Cardinals remained essentially a Western-mediterranean enclave: they needed to be able to assemble easily in Rome. The Pope has usually been Italian simply because Italians made up most of the college, and were most familiar to others in the college. Spanish, German and English cardinals, for instance, tended to be more outsiders, or even an opposing faction, like the French.

Since the era of the Roman Empire, nearly all of the Popes have been Italian, including for a stretch of over five centuries. But there have been Spanish, German, French and even an English (Adrian I) Pope.

Since modern transporation has become popular, the portion of Italian electors has fallen from 57% in the 1940s to less than 20%. And with modern communication, the need to get to Rome to be known to Rome is still less. There simply is little reason for the Pope to continue to come from the Western Meditteranean, specifically Italy.

Until the last thirty years, however, the Roman Catholic Church's clergy was predominantly European. Under JP2, Africa, Asia, and yes, Latin America are finally generating their own vocations while vocations in Europe dwindle.

So why has the Pope always been a white guy from Europe? Because the clergy was made up of white guys from Europe. But that is far less the case today. (Although the majority of clerics are still white guys.)

[dangus]

Calling Peter a "Palestinian?"

Despicable.

(I blame your source, not you.)

[Robert Drobot]

"From what I hear, what has distinguished Diaz from other Indian [Archbishops] is his [insistence] on liturgical norms."

As you may know, the Tridentine Mass is an ancient and very reverent Holy Mass rite, and it was the only rite for Holy Mass for the entire Roman Catholic Church - until the modernist movement took control of Vatican II.

In response to the dramatic loss of attendance throughout Europe and the United States, and a corresponding increase in attendance at Mass performed by priests of the Society of Saint Pius X and others, modernist John Paul II, drafted "Ecclesia Dei", proclaiming any Roman Catholic priest could say a Holy Mass in the official language of The Church ( Latin ).

However, what the public relations splash didn't do was give attention to the usual fine print JP2 included in his encyclicals. "Ecclesia Dei"....demanded a local priest could perform the Traditional Latin Mass if he sought and received permission from his local bishop.

In the United States, only a handful of bishops have granted permission for their priests to say Holy Mass as it was done throughout the world for hundreds of years. It was a signature JP2 move: appear to give without giving.

Adhering to a foolish and dangerous contrivence named collegiality, JP2 - having appointed almost all of sitting bishops - knew his Tridentine Mass proclamation was nothing more than smoke and mirrors.

Inasmuch as you claim to be aware of "[Archbishop] Diaz", has he given the priests in his diocese permission to say the Tridentine Mass?

There Is One and Only One God and All Religions Pray to The Same God?

You claim "....he [was] a close friend of Mother Therese....".

Was he able to bring her attention to our Heavenly Father's First Commandment - persuading her to desist from the adoration of false gods (See the photos below.)?

At the Buddhist pagoda, Mother Teresa lost in prayer, before the statue of Buddha.

Source: http://www.crc-internet.org/IER2003/november15_1.htm

The "we all pray to the same god" modernist movement now attempting to usurp His Church, can be read, as the accounts of Mother Teresa's movements were noted on the 25th anniversary of the order of nuns she initiated. Mother Teresa publicly took part in false god services at a number of locations. Some of the pagan rituals were photographed, as noted above.

The nun, writing the article for the order's paper, Missi noted an earlier occasion in which the then Cardinal Wojtyla and Mother Teresa were speakers at a Philadelphia "Eucharistic Congress".

Mother Teresa spoke on "the hunger for bread", Cardinal Wojtya on "the hunger of liberty". So a tender connivance brings them together, to such an extent that Mgr Francesco Follo, the Holy See's representative to Unesco, the chaplain of the Italian Missionaries of Charity, and the author of a book on Mother Teresa's spirituality, was able to speak of her as being the feminine dimension of John Paul II (La Croix, 18-19 October 2003). "....Let us note that this peaceful co-existence of the eighteen religions of Calcutta around Mother Teresa took place ten years before the “summit” of all world religions at Assisi!

How do you like those cookies? Kind of makes you wonder what else the modernists have in the oven, when God told the world they must come to Him through His Son!

Do you suppose Mother Teresa lost her Sacred Roman Rite Catholic Bible? Do you suppose there's an addendum to the Bible ( Like the third secret of Fatima! ) where The Almighty mentions Buddha, Kali, Mahavira, Vishnu, Shiva, Mohammad, and all the other 'gods' who sit with Him in Heaven!

I'm eager to learn what you know of this; from your perspective.....the story behind the story.

[dangus]

Well, first off, did you notice that I rescinded my comments about Diaz' relations to Mother Theresa. I have also heard other news stories which suggest a possible reason for why her canonization process has not been as quick as some had hopes. I refer not to the ridiculous rumor-mongering that the British press has been involved in; and I chalk some of her odd acquaintances to naivete. But I have heard other troubling reports which I decline to pass on so as to not spread gossip. This place is horrible for turning perceived slights into horrible apostasy. Suffice it to say, it would be taken as a sign that Mother Theresa did some things spiritually she ought not have done. So I have no rebuttal for what you write.

Meanwhile, I should very much like to know which Papabili have approved the Tridentine mass in their diocese. While I disagree with the reasons traditionalists have argued the Tridentine mass is necessary, I certainly think that Paul VI's suppression of it was a horrible abuse of papal power. (Why don't these liberals calling for a weaker papacy acknowledge that Paul VI's tactics were brutal?) Any Cardinal who has supported the Tridentine mass gets a huge boost in my eyes.