[Chief Slapaho]

Pope Francis, The People’s Pope:
He took the name of a humble saint and then called for a church of healing. The first non-European pope in 1,200 years is poised to transform a place that measures change by the century

http://poy.time.com/2013/12/11/person-of...ples-pope/

I would've went with Snowden but the Pope got tons of press this year.

[It_is_my_time]

I wish Snowden would have received it, he really exposed how evil our govt. is becoming.

But I will take the Pope winning it over Miley Cyrus.

[cardguy]

I really like this Pope. He seems to be one of the few Popes who truly understands the Christian message of being humble.

He decided to remain living in his one bedroom flat after becoming Pope. That is a good thing. Popes shouldn't be surrounding themselves with fantastic wealth.

[MHaes]

Yeah Pope Francis seems like a good change to the Catholic Church.

He seems to be changing the Church's message from one of anti-abortion/anti-homosexuality to one of charity/helping the less fortunate. That is definitely a good change to make, because the old message was alienating younger people.

[Hencredible Casanova]

I like the new Pope. I knew Snowden wouldn't get it because Time is too mainstream for that.

[soup]

The new pope's actions signal the death throws of the Catholic church.

[Sherman]

I admit that the Pope deserves some credit four outmaneuvering Miley Cyrus without resorting to twirking. However, Snowden deserved it. He made a real contribution to humanity without bullshit public relations manipulation.

[Dr. Howard]

(12-11-2013 12:27 PM)soup Wrote:  

The new pope's actions signal the death throws of the Catholic church.

how so? I thought that for sure when they had senator palpatine essentially just running damage control but Francis seems like a 'working man's pope...like how Rob Ford is the working man's mayor.

[Sawyer]

The fact that a magazine like Time names the Vicar of Christ as "Person of the Year" is all you need to know about what's wrong with Francis and the modern Church. Culturally it's about a step above being Penthouse's Person of the Year.

He's also an obvious freemason.

[Capitán Peligroso]

^^^ Are you sure he wasn't just reaching into his pocket to take out his glasses there?

[Handsome Creepy Eel]

I like him too. He's cool, understanding and relaxed on nonsensical stuff that Church has pushed before, yet absolutely unyielding and stern on important moral issues. And as cardguy mentioned, he is humble.

[Sawyer]

He may have been reaching for his glasses.

It's funny the same people who loved Mandela love Francis. From Time Magazine on down.

We could hash out the errors of Francis, were this a religious site. But as with Mandela, what's the point? "He's cool," "he's humble," who cares what his record is. Screw the dogma, he washes feet!

Anyway, there's my two cents. Peace.

[soup]

(12-11-2013 02:06 PM)wiscanada Wrote:  

(12-11-2013 12:27 PM)soup Wrote:  

The new pope's actions signal the death throws of the Catholic church.

how so? I thought that for sure when they had senator palpatine essentially just running damage control but Francis seems like a 'working man's pope...like how Rob Ford is the working man's mayor.

The pope is giving-in to the secular world.

Part of the Catholicism's power was that it created this mystical world that could only be communicated with through the church, with the pope being like the cable modem to god.

He's doing all this stuff because he knows that with the speed of information spreading increasing, the church looses it's mystique as people realize that there is no supernatural.

That's why he's trying to "come down to earth" etc.

It's not going to save the church, and he's an asshole for not just addressing the world and saying that the church is built on a lie.

[NY Digital]

(12-11-2013 03:47 PM)soup Wrote:  

It's not going to save the church, and he's an asshole for not just addressing the world and saying that the church is built on a lie.

[cardguy]

My Dad is a Catholic who hates the bullshit surrouding the Pope and the Catholic Church. He think St Peter's Basilica should be sold off and the money given to the poor.

And he really likes this Pope.

[TheBulldozer]

The Church is big business. His clientele is dying rapidly. I get the feeling that a lot of these social concessions are due to a need to drum up business.

I was in Rio when the dude was around, in fact I got closer than 99% of the people that actually went there to see him, but that's a story for another day, but I was impressed seeing millions of people who seemed genuinely happy and had some purpose for their life.

Say what you want about religion, but providing people with hope and a sense of purpose is a good thing for the general health of a society.

[Dr. Howard]

(12-11-2013 03:47 PM)soup Wrote:  

(12-11-2013 02:06 PM)wiscanada Wrote:  

(12-11-2013 12:27 PM)soup Wrote:  

The new pope's actions signal the death throws of the Catholic church.

how so? I thought that for sure when they had senator palpatine essentially just running damage control but Francis seems like a 'working man's pope...like how Rob Ford is the working man's mayor.

The pope is giving-in to the secular world.

Part of the Catholicism's power was that it created this mystical world that could only be communicated with through the church, with the pope being like the cable modem to god.

He's doing all this stuff because he knows that with the speed of information spreading increasing, the church looses it's mystique as people realize that there is no supernatural.

That's why he's trying to "come down to earth" etc.

It's not going to save the church, and he's an asshole for not just addressing the world and saying that the church is built on a lie.

good point, by being the 'working man's pope' he is reducing the pope's spiritual privilege to access god that of the working man, anyone can do it....which is more of a protestant type of thing. Never thought about it that way.

[GameTheory]

[Quintus Curtius]

Seems like a good man. The real test will be to see if he can get some desperately needed reforms going. To my thinking, the best would be getting rid of the rule of celibacy for all but the monastic orders. It makes no sense. Clerics are permitted to marry in Judaism, Islam, Eastern Orthodox Christian, and some other eastern rites (Coptic, Assyrian, etc.) It would enable the Church to attract men of more normal sexual appetites. I don't know why they don't change this. Even in the early centuries of the Church, priests were allowed to marry or maintain concubines.

I'm not a practicing Catholic, and only go to church on Christmas, but still...they should reform this rule.

[soup]

If he's going to say it's OK for gays to be Catholic, why not just come out and say: "God isn't real, but we like to dress up in clothes like this and get together for the holidays and help people etc. So, we don't need god for that. In fact, you don't need me for anything. Go and live your lives without god."

[Teutatis]

(12-11-2013 09:02 AM)Chief Slapaho Wrote:  

The first non-European pope in 1,200 years,,,

I know this has been such a big deal but really, his parents are Italian and he was born in raised in Argentina, he's European.

[Teutatis]

(12-11-2013 04:06 PM)MaleDefined Wrote:  

Say what you want about religion, but providing people with hope and a sense of purpose is a good thing for the general health of a society.

I agree, but still it doesn't make it true.

[GameTheory]

new Pope cleaning house...

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/...snhp&pos=2

[EisenBarde]

I still would have preferred a Franciscan.

His kind were kicked out of the Americas for a reason.

[Mage]

I don't like the new pope.

He is liked by secularists who think church should be humble and should throw away it's money to the black hole of poor an lazy.

Conservative Catholics (I was raised as a catholic before Game so I now this stuff) who have the brain capacity to understand what the faith is actually all about are horrified.

The previous emphasis of catholic church on anti-abortion and anti-homosexuality were also rather useless because they did not combat feminism - the main cause for abortion and socially celebrated homosexuality. They were fighting effects and not causes. But what Francis promotes is secular socialism.

He fits very well the image of how secular people think that a pope should be, but he is far from how religious people believe he should be.