Free Republic

The next pope: are we facing the nightmare of a Parolin pontificate? Vatican officials are anxious to get their hands on an advance copy of The Next Pope, a survey of 19 leading contenders to succeed Pope Francis scheduled for publication next month. The author, Edward Pentin, discusses these papable cardinals in today's episode of Holy Smoke.The full list is still under wraps, but inevitably we talk about Cardinal Robert Sarah, the African-born apocalyptic visionary whom liberals most fear. (If you doubt that, read this despicable and semi-literate hatchet job on Sarah by Christopher Lamb in The Tablet.) Equally inevitably,...

 WE HAVE A POPE!!! (Cardinal Ratzinger-Pope Benedict XVI)    Habemus Papam! -- We Have a Pope! -- Pope Benedicit XVI    Cardinal Ratzinger of Germany Is New Pope    (LIVE THREAD) The Papal Conclave, Interregnum, Cardinals, Conclave Facts, Prayer and other links    New pope hailed for strong Jewish ties    Ed Koch: The New Pope and Anti-Semitism    APRIL 24, MASS TO INAUGURATE PONTIFICATE OF BENEDICT XVI  KEYWORDS: BENEDICT; BENEDICTXVI;  POPE; RATZINGER;    In Selection of New Pope, Third World Loses Out (Women, children, hit hardest)    God Is My Pilot (We have a Pope. The gates of hell...

Pope Dies, Interregnum Begins "We're vindicated," Say Sedevacantists. * * * SSPX Refuses to Acknowledge Pope's Death Not bound by Vatican rulings, says Bishop. * * * Little-Known Papal Claimant Calls for Unity Excommunicates SSPX and Sedevacantists * * * Observers Wonder if Church Can Survive Total Loss of Membership (NOTZENIT) -- The world of the Roman Catholic faithful has been rocked by the death of John Paul II, who some observers say was holding the Church together with public-relations smoke and mirrors. Citing differences of doctrine, culture, and discipline, officials of the Society of St. Pius X have refused...

I was strolling through the St. Vincent de Paul thrift shop when the news came over the television that a new pope had been chosen. I felt a chill go through me and followed an urge to leave the store before his name was announced. My reaction surprised me. It had been years since I'd felt bound by what came down from Rome, yet clearly what happened there still mattered to me. Hours later, when I heard the news that Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger had been chosen, my heart sank. Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, was the head of the Congregation...

I'm disappointed. Well, as disappointed as a non-Roman Catholic can be. Not that I have anything against the new pope, Benedict XVI (in case you've been away from civilization for the past week, the 78-year-old German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger became the 265th pope of the Roman Catholic Church on Tuesday). The event was surrounded by such a potent mixture of mysticism and celebration that it was as if we were all Roman Catholics for a day. This is a circumstance that captivated (and annoyed) non-Catholics. Come on, not even a contentious U.S. national election or worldwide tragedy garnered more media...

Is nothing sacred in our time? London bookies, who will quote odds on which ant will spoil the first picnic of summer, have made Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi of Milan the favorite candidate for pope, going off at 5-2. Cardinal Francis Arinze of Nigeria was quoted at 11-4 when the clubhouse door closed, and Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga of Honduras was put at 4-1. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany, everybody's early favorite — i.e., the choice of the Vatican press pool — sank to 7-1 at post time. Click to learn more... But the press pool is even more irreverent....

VATICAN CITY — Smoke poured from the Sistine Chapel (search) chimney just before noon Tuesday — first emerging as gray but then turning darker — signaling that the cardinals had failed to choose a new pope for the second time. When the 115 voting cardinals do decide on a successor to Pope John Paul II (search), who died April 2 at age 84, the chimney will spew white smoke and bells will toll shortly afterward.

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras - From the shanty-covered hillsides of Tegucigalpa to the cosmopolitan streets of Buenos Aires and dusty villages in Africa, hopes had been high that the new pope would be someone intimately tied to the developing world and its challenges. Disappointment was evident when a German, Joseph Ratzinger — now Pope Benedict XVI — was chosen instead. "I would have liked someone different: younger, with new ideas and perhaps with darker skin like us," said Alfonso Mercado, an ice cream seller in Pereira, Colombia. Many in the city in Colombia's coffee-growing region hoped Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, who preached...

A prophecy by a 12th-century Catholic saint that predicted characteristics of the last 112 popes appears to have been strengthened by the election of the new pontiff today. The prophecy labels the new pope "the Glory of the Olive." The Benedictine Order is known as the Olivetans and has as its symbol the olive branch. The new pope, though not of that order, chose as his name Benedict XVI.

London's Sunday Times would have us believe that one of the leading contenders for the papacy is a closet Nazi. In if-only-they-knew tones, the newspaper informs readers that German-born Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was a member of the Hitler Youth during World War II and suggests that, because of this, the "panzer cardinal" would be quite a contrast to his predecessor, John Paul II. The article also classifies Ratzinger as a "theological anti-Semite" for believing in Jesus so strongly that – gasp! – he thinks that everyone, even Jews, should accept him as the messiah. To all this we should say,...

CARDINAL RATZINGER: PROFILE To some, he is the Catholic Church's intellectual salvation during a time of confusion and compromise. To others, he is an intimidating "Enforcer", punishing liberal thinkers, and keeping the Church in the Middle Ages. Certainly, in the world's largest Christian community the Pope's prefect of doctrine, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, cannot be overlooked. Against dissent While many theologians strive for a Catholic Church that is more open and in touch with the world around it, Ratzinger's mission is to stamp out dissent, and curb the "wild excesses" of this more tolerant era. He wields the tools of his...

The College of Cardinals named German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger to be the next pope of the Catholic Church, ending the first papal conclave of the new millennium with surprising speed. The 78-year-old Cardinal Ratzinger, who took the papal name Benedict XVI, is known as the Vatican's watchdog for dogma. As head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for many years, he staunchly defended orthodoxy in all areas of church life from liturgical translations to sex-abuse cases. The crowd in St. Peter's Square cheered at the announcement and applauded his appearance on the balcony from which by Chilean...

In 2003, after Episocpalian gay bishop Robinson was elected, a group of concerned Episcopalians and Anglicans met in emergency session, in Texas, to strategize how to respond -- through formally breaking away or other strategies.They received this letter from Rome: October 9, 2003 From Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger The Vatican, on behalf of Pope John Paul II I hasten to assure you of my heartfelt prayers for all those taking part in this convocation. The significance of your meeting is sensed far beyond Plano, and even in this City from which Saint Augustine of Canterbury was sent to confirm and strengthen...

With John Paul II’s death, speculation over his successor grows. Could Joseph Ratzinger be a coming German pope? Pope John Paul recent death has fueled speculation on who will be his successor. Although, officially, the Vatican cannot comment on the matter, insiders and observers are naming the major contenders. The Trumpet has pointed out many times over recent years that the pope to replace John Paul ii will be an arch-conservative and almost certainly the man to bring to fruition some of the most dreadful of end-time biblical prophecies. Our June 2002 issue stated of the next pope: Right wing...

Cardinal Ratzinger of Germany Is New Pope Europe - AP By WILLIAM J. KOLE, Associated Press Writer VATICAN CITY - Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany, a hard-line guardian of conservative doctrine, was elected the new pope Tuesday evening in the first conclave of the new millennium. He chose the name Pope Benedict XVI and called himself "a simple, humble worker." Ratzinger, the first German pope since the 11th century, emerged onto the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, where he waved to a wildly cheering crowd of tens of thousands and gave his first blessing as pope. Other cardinals clad in...

WE HAVE A POPE!!!

CHICAGO (CNS) -- Before the cardinals locked into the Sistine Chapel had a chance to cast their first ballot April 18, a group protesting the lack of women's voices in the conclave gathered outside Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago to send up billows of bright pink smoke along with prayers for women to be heard. The event featured statements from several organizations supporting the ordination of women that called on the church to open its doors fully to women's participation. "At a time when young women are sold into slavery around the world, when war brings the rape of women,...

VATICAN CITY - German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger defended Roman Catholic Church doctrine and condemned “the dictatorship of relativism” at Monday’s mass to pray for guidance in the election of the next pope.In his homily, Ratzinger, the dean of the College of Cardinals and a leading candidate for the papacy, said relativism “recognizes nothing definitive and its final measure is no more than ego and desire.”The 78-year-old cardinal pointed to “so many winds of doctrine that we have known in recent decades, so many ideological currents, so many ways of thinking,” including Marxism, liberalism, radical individualism, atheism and mysticism.He was speaking...

VATICAN CITY - Accusations of involvement in kidnappings of priests in Argentina dog one papal contender. "Revelations" about Nazi links surface about another top candidate. Gossipy items about health problems raise doubts about others. Like a U.S. presidential campaign, the run-up to the election of a pope has seen some dirty laundry hung out in public, and it's not the cardinals' red socks that are getting an airing. Among the "princes of the church" being targeted was German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, one of Pope John Paul II's most trusted aides and a man some Vatican watchers have put in pole...

The Conclave just started. The doors are shut.