Big deal. One less bigoted, misogynistic man to deal with. But still – what a surprise! One day the Pope is tweeting in a hundred languages, the next he’s retiring to whatever German or Italian monastery/village he has in mind.
The “Panzer Cardinal” as they call him, sparked enormous international anger over the extensive amount of offensive comments he made during his time in ‘office’. Here’s a few – just to remind you – on his first official visit to Africa he said “Aids cannot be overcome through the distribution of condoms” while implying condoms aggravates the problem by fueling promiscuity. Nice one, Pope.
When he visited the UK in 2010, he said, in reference to Heathrow airport – “When you arrive at Heathrow, you think at times that you’ve landed in a Third World country.” It is true – a lot of Muslims and Indians work at Heathrow but is it really necessary to make such connections. I’m not sure. Maybe he did not mean it that way, though I wouldn’t put it past the old fella.
Oh, and the Pope was certainly “Never in the Hitler youth.”
“Never, never, never.”
Only last year, in July, the Vatican was accused of misogyny when it put ‘ordaining women’ among the “most serious crimes” alongside paedophilia. Yeah, Women Priests = paedophiles.
I mean, how wrong would it be to argue that the Pope and Berlusconi share a lot more in common than the vicinity in which they live in. The Panzer has been suffering one public disaster after another. Perhaps his decision to resign is not a bad one after all.
But what does the Popes resignation mean? Hopefully it means a new modern beginning. No more condoms, no more women, and certainly no more multi-ethnic staff at Heathrow. No, not really. Hopefully the new Pope will be one accepting of all religions – not like Benedict XVI, who accused Prophet Muhammad’s teachings as “evil and inhuman.” And hopefully the new Pope will not claim heterosexuality is as crucial to the future of mankind as protecting the rainforests.
Rumors are going around saying the new Pope will be elected by the end of March, other rumors are going around saying he likely to be an African. So far there are four main candidates.
Cardinal Peter Turkson
A Ghanaian TV star, dubbed as the ‘people’s person’, ‘a wonderful priest’. Apparently he’s got quite a sense of humour. A pope with humour – that would be good! But he’s not as angelic as you might think. Not long ago, Turkson published a YouTube film titled Muslim Demogaphics making claims such as: “In just 39 years France will be an Islamic republic.” What he meant by that – I am not sure, but I’m sure it angered the French.
The other candidate is……..
Cardinal Marc Ouellet
A 68-year old Canadian former archbishop of Quebec who has worked in the Vatican for three years. He spend many years living and teaching in Colombia which makes him an attractive figure to the massively Catholic Latin America. Even though he is a Traditionalist, he does condone anti-Antisemitism, racism and discrimination against women and homosexuals. He is a bit funny on the old anti-abortion issue though – calling it a ‘moral crime’, even in rape cases.
Cardinal Francis Arinze
Then there is this Nigerian Arinze who is about as old as the current Pope and who is a great communicator but he has also been a bit naughty because about ten years ago he equated homosexuality with adultery and divorce at Georgetown University. Boo.
Cardinal Angelo Scola
Now this guy would make Italians so happy. He is Italian, the son of a truck driver, not too old and not too young. He has a PhD in philosophy and theology and has been cardinal for absolute ages. He urges the church to be more modern, he wants to communicate messages clearly on matter such as marriage and one of the clever things he said in 2005, making him very popular is:
“One reason for the misunderstanding is that we Christians often propose this moralistically instead of giving reasons, instead of convincing, this is a weakness of ours.”
Now that’s a Pope and a half!
Who would you like to have as Pope
Please vote below
Good one! One bigot down, so many more to go. I think they will elect another one. Interesting post though.
I love your blogs. Here, though, I feel, you yourself are just as full of bigotry as the one you are accusing, which is a pity. Your quotes are taken out of context and as such automatically disqualify you to be taken seriously. What is the point of lambasting the Pope? Where, in your opinion, is an alternative moral force in this world? It better not be Islam, if you are a woman. Shall we abandon all religions and leave it to the courts to decide on morality? Go back to tribalism, shamanism and all that? Perhaps that is the way of the future. It is not fair though to use the failings of the church in our time to discredit the church in its entirety. The message of Christ was and still is pretty simple and clear and so are the orignal thoughts of the Prophet Mohammed. Maybe it is time to go back to basics. You are touching on things that are not to taken lightly. And, sorry to say: sarcasm still remains the lower forms of wit. Take care.
Sorry if this post offended you – I’m not religious in any way and therefore feel no inhibition to talk about the Pope in this way. I think all religions are outdated, invalid and cause serious political and social implications and damage society as a whole. Religion causes violence, suppresses scientific advances, including softer things like art and literature – you only have to look at the Middle Ages – the Dark Ages – - to see how much Christianity can stupefy society. I think they lost the recipe for concrete or something like that, that’s how backwards they became. Also, the Pope – or Christianity – has long been replaced as a moral force – I am suprised you even mention this. There is certainly no need to replace the law with some sort of an alternative moral force. In reply to your comment – that I have taken things out of context – that is completely untrue – why is it that religious people ALWAYS argue things have been taken out of context – there is nothing written in my post that has been taken out of context, I assure you. The Pope’s a dope.
The comments about being taken out of context, whether they have been or not, should not matter, especially to the religious inclined.
For they take great pleasure in taking snippets from their respective religious books to prove one point or another. Certainly in The Bible, texts contradicts themselves all the time.
As i have said peace and goodwill should be promoted by all in the world, after all we are all from the same tribe, the Human tribe.
Great article. Yeah, i really don’t see what the pope does these days that’s so important.
Who ever becomes the new Pope should be using the position to promote peace and tolerance in the world.
Too true
Very informative post, especially for me, since I have not been able to keep up with things in the last week or so. The candidates all seem to have their good and bad qualities — it’s anybody’s guess who they’ll choose.
Interesting post! I, on one hand agree with you. There has to be a better communicator, modern, open minded, more informed [...] person out there to lead such a huge institution. Especially one that has so much power and influence.
On the other hand, I agree with the bigoted & misogynistic man; “Aids cannot be overcome through the distribution of condoms”. Do you, Hristina, mean that distribution of condoms would overcome AIDS. FYI, http://www.avert.org/aids-asia.htm. HIV/AIDS is a global problem, despite condoms.
On blogsausbetties comment, you reply, “I’m not religious in any way and therefore feel no inhibition to talk about the Pope in this way. I think all religions are outdated, invalid and cause serious political and social implications and damage society as a whole. Religion causes violence, suppresses scientific advances, [...]”
I was under the impression that people, individuals, in religious institutions form groups. Usually with other individuals who agree with them. Create sensational, populist opinions, and cause the problems that you describe. Even un-religious people and scientists seem capable of this.
I like people who leave space for doubt, because I don’t think that we are so clever that we know the universe. It is a fool’s trap to be so sure of any ideology; both the religious and the un-religious. Even the bigoted & misogynistic old men can say something of value, if one dares to listen.
Hope a new wise pope will be elected. One who sees the diversity in the world, and respects it. And one who can in a little way represent the many individuals in who belong to the catholic society all over the world.
Ya
Rightly said. Now to the writer Hristina, it is okay to criticise the Pope, or any political head for that manner, but remember to respect them. Calling a pope a dope would in my country be criminal to the extent of defamatory. Be careful how you critic please. Thank you.
Thank god I don’t live in your country!
Many people are commenting that the article, or the author is not showing respect to the persons mentioned within the article, while agreeing that the author is entitled to their opinions.
Why do we all expect respect to be automatic to person in a privelidged position, they are no more or less entitled to respect than any other person.
In the world today respect and also responsibility are currently lacking in many, it is my view that all should be held accountable for their actions and therefore show be resonsible, but respect needs to be earnant.
To argue that in a particular country it is against the law to ctiticise a leader, then that is for those countries and those countries alone. It is not relevant to persons not in those counties as all should be able to have free speech.
I think they need a woman: the Popess with the Mostest
It’s time for the Catholic church to pull their heads out of the sand and realise how much influence they have over people, and how important it is not to get the message wrong.
Agreed!
Thank you Multifarious Meanderings,you may be right, it may be a time for a female pope, unfortunately you will first need female bishops. I am afraid religion is still a bastion for males.
Re the point of realsing how much influence they have over people, this is the point, they do and are not bothered if they get it wrong, as they are there to preach and others are there to believe in what is being preached towards them.
Religion does not like free thinkers, as they feel this will diminish the influence that they have and ultimately reduce their level of control. This can be so, irrespective of what the religion may be.
While the posting is about Catholicism, the comments are true of virtually any religion.
Hello there! I’m an optimist : If enough people think big, maybe religion will evolve eventually. The recent uproar in the UK when a majority vote for women priests was ignored is proof enough for me that the tide is turning, at least in some religions. The Catholic church haven’t even got their heads around female priests yet, let alone bishops…. In any case, the situation has to change.
. There will always be leaders and followers: both have to learn to use their own minds.
definitely
This is a sensitive issue to bring, I manage read this alive
I like this article, consider I don’t like issue politics, religion, still this is good to read. Greetings 
I don’t think any of them can bring the Catholic Church into the modern world which they, and all churches, must do to bring a new generation to organized religion. We aren’t talking here about masses in the language of the country or folk masses but fundamental changes in attitude. Don’t see that happening much anywhere, but particularly in the Catholic Church.
Sometimes, we take a bit of power away from someone who, has indeed, participated in crimes against humanity! It falls within the “Golden Rule”.
http://archives.weirdload.com/ratzipics.html
I won’t vote but I can see where your vote lies.
Interesting post. Being a Roman Catholic, I do respect the Vatican and the traditional post of Pope, but I agree with some of your points, as I’m not a believer without some doubts. That being said, it isn’t all black and white but with greys in between so quote interpretations vary. I find it funny that while you criticize former Pope Benedict of not respecting all religions, you write of this faith in such a sarcastic and biased way. Religion is always a sensitive issue so i commend you for taking a shot at such a big issue as this; however, with all the discrepancies I can only take this piece for entertainment and not as a serious article. Best wishes.
of course it is a serious article. misogyny is a serious matter, as is paedophilia and homophobia.
I sincerely respect everyone’s choice on their beliefs – whether you are Catholic, Budist or Atheist, like yourself. You have the right to believe in whatever you like. The one thing I ask for is respect – I think that is missing in a lot of people, you included.
I truly do not understand how you went through all this trouble, in a matter that you claim not to care, to so bluntly bad-mouth the current Pope, and the church itself.
You are of course entitled to your opinions, but so is everyone in the Catholic church, and other Religions for that matter.
Don’t you think that by writing down some of those things you are being as closed-minded as some very strict and fundamentalist Catholics?
no