Vatican uses electronic voting machines.... ...and Bush is elected Pope!
Catholics in America are getting quite an introduction in agenda journalism today, as report after report sells the liberal line about the new pope. Is it not possible that dissent on that single teaching is the exception that proves the rule of fidelity to the Church's teaching and leadership rather than compelling proof of a "liberal" laity disappointed by Tradition Church doctrine?
Eye on Politics & Law Lords: Strong Reaction to His Holiness: Is the Smoke Really Black and White . . .
The new pope will not be a clone of the old. I've spoken to him several times over the last 40 years, and he is a much shyer man, quieter, more like a country pastor or a scholar than like an actor striding across all history as his stage. When one approaches him, he seems to back up an inch or two in diffidence. His voice is much softer than one expects.
THE election of Cardinal Josef Ratzinger as pope was John Paul II's last gift to the Roman Catholic Church. No cardinal was closer to John Paul II, or talked at length with him more often. In his sermon at the memorial for the late pope, Cardinal Ratzinger, with perfect pitch, praised his predecessor's gifts in poetry, drama and art, and the sweep of his vision and accomplishments. The sermon was interrupted many times by hearty applause, especially from the young.
The best man for the job: The Papacy is the oldest and most successful institution in the world. Asking the Pope to abandon or water down Catholic doctrine would be like asking him to abolish his own office. Joseph Ratzinger has been the most powerful figure in the Church after John Paul II for the past two decades. It is entirely right that he should have the opportunity to serve the Church in the capacity for which he is so obviously head and shoulders above the rest. Among so many eminences, he was pre-eminent.
• Rome's Radical Conservative [Marla Ruzicka, bohemian by temperament and genes, was actually in Iraq doing practical work and saving lives. Our Heart and Conscience: Practical Poppess ; via Tim Dunlop ]
• · A Pope For The Grown-Ups: A pope who likes Acton, Madison and de Tocqueville. Works for me. The Hard Line on Ratzinger ; For the past 25 years, a meeting took place each week which defied the history of the 20th century. A Pole and a German met in peace to discuss the will of God. Every Friday, Pope John Paul II, the Pole, sat with Josef Ratzinger, the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, alone. Now the Pole is dead, and the German is Pope. Pope Benedict has a sense of history
• · · After a tense day and a half of waiting, the tell-tale white smoke poured from the chimney and the faithful streamed toward St. Peter's Square as bells pealed the news that a new pope had been chosen. Waving crosses, cheering "We have a pope!" and staring expectantly up at the balcony above St. Peter's, the thousands gathered to watch the first appearance of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the 265th pope Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger Named 265th Pope ; Joseph Ratzinger Chosen as New Pope ; Tests for an Unbending Pope Smoke In The Air: Habemus Papam Following John Paul II, only two popes remain in the prophecy. The next motto is Gloria Olivae, the glory of the olive. This motto has led to speculation that the next pontiff will be from the Order of Saint Benedict or will at least choose Benedict as his papal name Lets Crucify him: Penultimate Pope
• · · · [ Arguments Against Joseph Ratzinger] Ken Parish said: How depressing Joseph Ratzinger as Pope Benedict XVI; Antony Loewenstein said: Personally, I salute the choice of Ratzinger, if for no other reason than the church's inherent bigotry and misogyny will finally be clear for all to see Ratzinger; Andrew Sullivan predicts civil war within Catholicism: How many winds of doctrine we have known in recent decades, how many ideological currents, how many ways of thinking
• · · · · [Arguments for Joseph Ratzinger] E. J. Dionne Jr. said: The modern world, Ratzinger insisted, has jumped "from one extreme to the other: from Marxism to liberalism, up to libertinism; from collectivism to radical individualism; from atheism to a vague religious mysticism; from agnosticism to syncretism and on and on. Cardinal Ratzinger's Challenge: A Society which Exchanges One Brutalism for Another ; Hugh Hewitt said: Neither of the two liberal columnists or the liberal Los Angeles Times tackles the central issue. Each in turn bumps and runs, refusing the challenge and instead veering off into comfortable canards or wrestling with straw men. ; Professor Bainbridge sez: I realize that calling Sullivan is an ass is not very charitable, but sometimes you just have to state harsh truths. Andrew Sullivan is an Ass
• · · · · · Robert Dreyfuss: The problem with holding elections under hostile occupation has finally reared its hoary head. Can civil war be avoided? Iraq's Catch-22; Bob Herbert Freedom From Want ; The business press, as always, reassures passengers that they are headed for a "soft landing," a slowdown rather than a crash, but even a mild jolt may be sufficient to end the current anemic recovery and throw all the dollar-pegged economies into recession Protection Racket: Riding the Real Estate Tsunami; George Soros told a carefully vetted gathering of 70 likeminded millionaires and billionaires last weekend that they must be patient if they want to realize long-term political and ideological yields from an expected massive investment in “startup” progressive think tanks Soros says be patient