Pope to resign!

[Mandy2003]

Didn't know this was allowed - thought they saw themselves as "chosen" by a higher power and it was a job for life

But no reason has been given yet following the simple announcement from the Vatican.

[GrimmaTheNome]

Yes, I know.

Except doesn't Rome have eight hills at least . Nah, Brussels much more likely target of wrath.

[ubik]

Sheffield has seven hills.

[sunflowersfollowthesun]

Warning Possibly not recommended for the devout...or the generally easily offended...or the PO.

[GrimmaTheNome]

Warning Possibly not recommended for the devout...or the generally easily offended...or the PO.

Possibly - you think?

[sunflowersfollowthesun]

[whiskyplease]

I suppose he will become Ex Benedict then.

[LeslieKnope]

sunflowers - that right there is precisely why I adore Tim Minchin!

Posted it on my FB yesterday to much passive aggressive catholic disapproval

[sunflowersfollowthesun]

Passive aggressive Catholics? Surely not.

[LeslieKnope]

Yep

I've been characteristically ranty vocal about this whole thing on FB. I think they're all terrified of my atheist ass

[CarlingBlackMabel]

ROFL at ex-Benedict

[sieglinde]

What if they are not terrified but offended, Leslie? I'm not remotely scared of you, alas.

[Animation]

Eggs Benedict you mean

[ubik]

Grimma

I just clicked on that Tim Minchin song, it started and three little heads turned toward me in unison and went

So I had to stop it

My kids are getting a real education this half term, the other day a neighbour had 'wanker' scraped across the bonnet of his car; cue three children gathered round shiny vandalised beamer, spelling out www...wwwan...wan...kerr.... mummy what does that mean?

[seeker]

God I love Tim Minchin!

[fancyanother]

I am a Catholic and am glad to see him gone, never warmed to him and he had far too many scandals under his belt to be anything other than a disappointment to me. However I fear that the church is only going to become more orthodox. I know this is just my experience of my parish but we have in the past year had three new priests. One of which is very young. The traditionalist views that they have espoused have really taken me by surprise. I used to enjoy going to mass and having a bit of time to my own thoughts, but now every week we are hectored about some outdated Catholic doctrine. All the things that made me rage as a teenager and turn away from the church have all come back and made me rage again.
i was listening to someone on the radio saying that there should not be a progressive Pope because the Church is becoming more orthodox and the new young followers are all orthodox. I think religion in general is becoming more fundamentalist and traditionalist, maybe because people feel they need someone to tell them what to do in a time of uncertainty. It worries me.

[sieglinde]

Wow, we have LOTS of Catholic priests here at the Oxford Oratory, all of them younger than me. Loads more at Blackfriars just up the read. The Boars Hill Carmelite friary just took on four new novices. The oratory was packed to the doors for Ash Wednesday yesterday.

fancy, sorry to hear you are unhappy. Agree about the traditionalism, but I absolutely don't think the RC church is fundamentalist - how can it be? what have the priests been saying lately that has upset you? Ours mostly talk about/against materialism and consumerism. Ok, there was the gay marriage silliness - no idea why they felt so stressy about that - but I didn't take it personally.

[sieglinde]

Yes, 1944girl, the hope or expectation that we (RCs) will wither away has been expressed since the time of Elizabeth I. But we aren't going.... and I think some orders - the very trad ones - are still doing well.

I went to a mass in the EF at York Minster last year - yes, an RC mass in the Minster - and it was so crowded they ran out of hosts.

[seeker]

Ok, there was the gay marriage silliness - no idea why they felt so stressy about that - but I didn't take it personally."

I am constantly amazed by the ability of Roman Catholics to gloss over huge swathes of stuff the church says and does and belives with a light "oh, I didn't take that personally" if you can decide you don't believe the bits you don't want to belive in, whqt actually makes you a Roman Catholic?

[sieglinde]

The fact that I believe in the core stuff, seeker - the number and nature of the sacraments, the transubstantiation, the apostolic succession, the saints, Purgatory. Afraid all that matters much more than the church view of gay marriage. All that's why I'm RC. I'm not RC because of homophobia.

I'm not gay, and if I was I doubt I'd want to be married. That's what I mean by not taking it personally. 95% of marriages are invalid by RC standards. Shrug. I acknowledge that we are not eh world. I also know that bishops can err. Doh. It's not the point.

[JugglingFromHereToThere]

I'm surprised to see you write a sentence like "95% of marriages are invalid by RC standards" Sieglinde ?

What about you ? Aren't you more questioning of that assumption, it seems rather arrogant and intolerant to me ? You didn't really say what you think about that idea ?

In fact I might be inclined to take that slightly personally as we had a Quaker marriage service. I try to respect other people's relationships whatever celebrations they have chosen (and however informally or otherwise) to represent their commitment to each other.