Pope resigns

[Osc]

I never had any time for him and he has done irreparable damage to the Catholic church in Ireland, whatever about anywhere else.

[Oojamaflip]

I never had any time for him and he has done irreparable damage to the Catholic church in Ireland, whatever about anywhere else.

Osc do you think there any significance in the fact he's resigned rather than retired?

[Osc]

Well......I don't know. As a concept it's interesting if he has that self-knowledge to know that he isn't up to the job. The only way he could leave was to resign or die, retiring apparently isn't an option. As this hasn't happened for just on 600 years, I don't suppose there are too many rules laid down as to how it is handled (or if there are, they are 600 years old ) I'll watch it all with interest from a news point of view, but otherwise I don't care too much.

[shazsha]

I never had any time for him and he has done irreparable damage to the Catholic church in Ireland, whatever about anywhere else.

It's probably something I ought to have some knowledge of but I have to plead ignorance...How did the pope cause irreparable damage to the RC in Ireland?

[KateLMead]

I never had any time for him and he has done irreparable damage to the Catholic church in Ireland, whatever about anywhere else.

There are more wars and distention caused through damned religion than enough.. I have my beliefs that I follow on a spiritual level. I do not need to bow and scrape to effigies.. I have seen the damage done to youngsters in seminaries, and one of the worst examples was a priest visiting a friend, a dying man in Malta, the priest told him that if he didnt leave his money to the church he would go to Hell. With every thing else that has gone on within the church "That was enough for me"!!!
The refusal to accept contraception has always been something I cannot get my head around, and if we read the History of the Catholic Church there is not much for it to be proud of.

[Oojamaflip]

Well......I don't know. As a concept it's interesting if he has that self-knowledge to know that he isn't up to the job. The only way he could leave was to resign or die, retiring apparently isn't an option. As this hasn't happened for just on 600 years, I don't suppose there are too many rules laid down as to how it is handled (or if there are, they are 600 years old ) I'll watch it all with interest from a news point of view, but otherwise I don't care too much.

Thanks Osc.

I guess we live in such an age of conspiracy theories it's sad it may seem suspicious. Good on him for having the integrity to resign if he knows he's no longer up to the job.

[pederito1]

I suppose the damage was due to his rather unusual views on the priest/choirboy saga. Maybe he has a skeleton in his own closet.

[Osc]

It's probably something I ought to have some knowledge of but I have to plead ignorance...How did the pope cause irreparable damage to the RC in Ireland?

Mainly in relation to the clerical abuse scandals, Shaz. He encouraged the ongoing policy of obfuscation as more and more of these awful stories emerged (both before and during his reign as pope), he refused to allow bishops to resign and when the various reports emerged proving that the Church had done very little to prevent this abuse, his response was less than adequate. He has been doing his very best to suppress the opinions of priests who have dared to speak out with a different opinion to the party line, these priests have been threatened with being removed from their ministries just for trying to provoke dialogue on the issues of modern life. Thankfully Ireland is no longer a meek little country kowtowing to the church, and our Taoiseach let him know that in no uncertain terms.

[Kaz]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21421810

[miasmum]

I really really have no interest whatsoever about this and to be honest I am surprised so many have. If you are a practising Catholic then obviously it is important, but why should I be interested?