[Archived] The Pope is resigning

[Plastics]

On health reasons. Didn't know he was allowed. God must feel like Rovers fans do now over Vince Grella.

[cn174]

Wants to spend more time watching Droylsden apparently.... http://twitpic.com/c2rns0

[Aberdeen Blue]

Rumour has it he's just turned up outside Loftus Road but 'Arry's claiming there was just a misunderstanding when he said Rangers needed a miracle to stay up.

[perthblue02]

Bit of a quitter this pope, resigned from the Hitler Youth as well didn't he a few years ago, certainly won't look good on his cv for a job at B &Q

[DanLad]

I've heard Steve Kean is going to be the new pope. Dignity, courage under fire etc.

[Plastics]

Waiting for it to come up on Jobseekers. No sign of it yet. Probably get screwed over on the old positive ageism anyway.

[Mike E]

Apparently he wants to set up an online business. 'Papal'........

[DanLad]

Waiting for it to come up on Jobseekers. No sign of it yet. Probably get screwed over on the old positive ageism anyway.

A lot of posters on here who would have good shout at getting the job given all the pontificating that they do...

[Steve Moss]

Good for him. It takes humility to walk away for the good of the Church. He's a good man and should be applauded.

[Plastics]

Is that the stance he took when he walked away from the Hitler Youth too? Left for the good of it?

God hates a quitter and you know it.

[Steve Moss]

Is that the stance he took when he walked away from the Hitler Youth too? Left for the good of it?

God hates a quitter and you know it.

Grow up. From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Benedict_XVI

Following his 14th birthday in 1941, Ratzinger was conscripted into the Hitler Youth—as membership was required by law for all 14-year-old German boys after December 1939^[11]—but was an unenthusiastic member who refused to attend meetings, according to his brother.^[12] In 1941, one of Ratzinger's cousins, a 14-year-old boy with Down syndrome, was taken away by the Nazi regime and murdered during the Action T4 campaign of Nazi eugenics.^[13] In 1943, while still in seminary, he was drafted into the German anti-aircraft corps as Luftwaffenhelfer (air force child soldier).^[12] Ratzinger then trained in the German infantry.^[14] As the Allied front drew closer to his post in 1945, he deserted back to his family's home in Traunstein after his unit had ceased to exist, just as American troops established their headquarters in the Ratzinger household.^[15] As a German soldier, he was put in a POW camp but was released a few months later at the end of the war in the summer of 1945.^[15] He reentered the seminary, along with his brother Georg, in November of that year.

[koi]

I've heard Steve Kean is going to be the new pope. Dignity, courage under fire etc.

If you read Genesis you'll find that it was actually Kean that discovered God in the first place.

[Plastics]

Grow up. From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Benedict_XVI

Following his 14th birthday in 1941, Ratzinger was conscripted into the Hitler Youth—as membership was required by law for all 14-year-old German boys after December 1939^[11]—but was an unenthusiastic member who refused to attend meetings, according to his brother.^[12] In 1941, one of Ratzinger's cousins, a 14-year-old boy with Down syndrome, was taken away by the Nazi regime and murdered during the Action T4 campaign of Nazi eugenics.^[13] In 1943, while still in seminary, he was drafted into the German anti-aircraft corps as Luftwaffenhelfer (air force child soldier).^[12] Ratzinger then trained in the German infantry.^[14] As the Allied front drew closer to his post in 1945, he deserted back to his family's home in Traunstein after his unit had ceased to exist, just as American troops established their headquarters in the Ratzinger household.^[15] As a German soldier, he was put in a POW camp but was released a few months later at the end of the war in the summer of 1945.^[15] He reentered the seminary, along with his brother Georg, in November of that year.

Fair enough, that was a low blow, but how can he justify covering up child rape?

[Sparky Marky]

Good for him. It takes humility to walk away for the good of the Church. He's a good man and should be applauded.

I would like to bet it isn't as rosey as you make it...probably got caught sticking one on a choir boy.

[Plastics]

I wonder if he can be arrested once he's retired...

[Steve Moss]

I'm unsure of where the allegations of child rape (indicative of the sick minds, if untrue) originate from, but here's a summary of his efforts to clean it up within the Church:

Prior to 2001, the primary responsibility for investigating allegations of sexual abuse and disciplining perpetrators rested with the individual dioceses. In 2001, Ratzinger convinced John Paul II to put the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in charge of all investigations and policies surrounding sexual abuse in order to combat such abuse more efficiently.^[137][138] According to John L. Allen, Jr., Ratzinger in the following years "acquired a familiarity with the contours of the problem that virtually no other figure in the Catholic Church can claim" and "driven by that encounter with what he would later refer to as 'filth' in the Church, Ratzinger seems to have undergone something of a 'conversion experience' throughout 2003–04. From that
point forward, he and his staff seemed driven by a convert's zeal to clean up the mess".^[139] In his role as Head of the CFD, he "led important changes made in Church law: the inclusion in canon law of internet offences against children, the extension of child abuse offences to include the sexual abuse of all under 18, the case by case waiving of the statute of limitation and the establishment of a fast-track dismissal from the
clerical state for offenders."^[140] As the Head of the CDF, Ratzinger developed a reputation for handling
these cases. According to Charles J. Scicluna, a former prosecutor handling sexual abuse cases, "Cardinal Ratzinger displayed great wisdom and firmness in handling those cases, also demonstrating great courage
in facing some of the most difficult and thorny cases, sine acceptione personarum (without exceptions)".^[139][141]

One of the cases Ratzinger pursued involved Father Marcial Maciel Degollado, a Mexican priest and founder of the Legion of Christ, who had been accused repeatedly of sexual abuse. Biographer Andrea Tornielli suggested that Cardinal Ratzinger had wanted to take action against Marcial Maciel Degollado, but that John Paul II and other high-ranking officials, including several cardinals and notably the pope's influential secretary Stanisław Dziwisz, prevented him from doing so.^[138][142] According to Jason Berry, Angelo Sodano
"pressured" Cardinal Ratzinger, who was "operating on the assumption that the charges were not justified", to halt the proceedings against Maciel in 1999^[143] When Maciel was honored by the Pope in 2004, new accusers came forward^[143] and Cardinal Ratzinger "took it on himself to authorize an investigation of Maciel"^[138] After Ratzinger became pope he began proceedings against Maciel and the Legion of Christ that forced Maciel out of active service in the Church.^[137] On 1 May 2010 the Vatican issued a statement denouncing Maciel's "very
serious and objectively immoral acts", which were "confirmed by incontrovertible testimonies" and represent "true crimes and manifest a life without scruples or authentic religious sentiment." Pope Benedict also said he would appoint a special commission to examine the Legionaries’ constitution and open an investigation into its lay affiliate Regnum Christi.^[144] Cardinal Christoph Schönborn explained that Ratzinger "made entirely clear efforts not to cover things up but to tackle and investigate them.

This was not always met with approval in the Vatican".^[137][145] According to Schönborn, Cardinal Ratzinger had pressed John Paul II to investigate Hans Hermann Groër, an Austrian cardinal and friend of John Paul accused of sexual abuse, resulting in Groër's resignation.^[142] In March 2010, the Pope sent a Pastoral Letter to the Catholic Church in Ireland addressing cases of sexual abuse by Catholic priests to minors, expressing sorrow, and promising changes in the way accusations of abuse are dealt with.^[146]
Victim groups claim the letter failed to clarify if secular law enforcement has priority over canon law confidentiality pertaining to internal investigation of abuse allegations.^{[147][148][149][150]} The Pope then promised to introduce measures that would 'safeguard young people in the future' and 'bring to justice' priests who were
responsible for abuse.^[136] In April, the Vatican issued guidelines on how existing Church law should be implemented. The guideline dictates that "Civil law concerning reporting of crimes... should always be followed."^[151] The guideline was intended to follow the norms established by U.S. bishops, but it does not require the reporting of "allegations" or crimes where reporting is not required by law.^[152]

[Plastics]

Wow, it's rare you find people who actually bother to defend the guy given what's happened so you have my sympathy there, but what about the letters he sent to people, not telling them to avoid raping children, but to never ever report these crimes to the police. And when he found somebody who had forced an 11 year old to perform oral sex on him within the church, instead of reporting the crime he simply moved him on to a new place.

He's an embarrassment to the denomination, most Catholics would agree.

If you are impressed by mere PR and damage limitation rather than care for the abused (let's call it raped, as that's what it is) and prevention of it happening in the future then you have certain character traits that disgust me.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2005/apr/24/children.childprotection

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2005/apr/24/children.childprotection1

[ABBEY]

The Vatican have today announced a modern pope and the way he his elected. 1st march sees A new season of Pope Idol.

[thenodrog]

I wonder if he can be arrested once he's retired...

If I was being mischievious I might suggest plea bargaining.

[jim mk2]

The trouble with the Catholic church is the left foot doesn't know what the right foot is doing.

[thenodrog]

I wonder if he can be arrested once he's retired...

Hail ...... hail....... The Pope's in jail.....

[Guest Norbert]

Dougal Maguire for Pope.

[Plastics]

I support the man (Pope Benedict) who re-wrote church policy to require priests and diocese to conform to the law of the jurisdiction in which they reside, when it comes to reporting child abuse or allegations of child abuse.

You really are weak minded. Or intentionally provocative (what's the matter? Don't get enough attention at home?). Take your pick.

You support a man who was forced to make those changes out of a combination of public pressure and (you would hope) normal human desires for equality. Given his previous record on child rape I am less inclined to believe the latter.

I am in no way trying to say that you are some deluded creationist or fundamentalist (as I don't know if you are or not), or that you must automatically believe everything he says (clearly you aren't/don't, as you aren't a Catholic anyway, but I'm not saying you would take everything that the head of your denomination says as fact either) as this is very, very rarely the case. To ignore certain parts of the argument and accept nothing bad about the Pope in terms of his conduct on this matter is pure denial.

[RoyRover]

Me and my family would be pretty devout Catholics and we never ever like the current Pope. From his handling of the child abuse cases to his views on women in the church, we could never warm to him. The church needs a more progressive Pope if it wants to move forward and attract people too it. As it is, the old fashioned ways and teachings alienate people and put them off the church. Just my opinion.

[Plastics]

True. It's a shame when Catholics all get tarred with the same brush as their leader. People should keep their eyes open on these things and not just write people off. Likewise though, those Catholics should be vocal in their opposition to the leader.

I went to my first ever Mass today (with the school I'm working at). It was full of weirdness and lies. The weirdness you can take. The lies are saddening.

As for the new Pope, I would have hoped that one of the African's had got it, for progressions sake, but the two African frontrunners appear to be deluded. I guess you have to be at least a little bit deluded to get that high up. Or corrupt. The two African's have very poor views on women's rights and homosexuality so I hope they do not get the job.