Happy Birthday, Pope Benedict!

Alright, who showed my mother how to post on here?

We’re happy he stepped down. Not so happy we’re having to still pay for him and his red Prada loafers.

Oh, happy birthday!

The worst Pope in ages. It was a miracle that he stepped down and Pope Francis took over.

This was the guy who looked like Emperor Palpatine, right?

May the Lord allow him a few more years so he can be prosecuted and punished for covering up the sexual abuse of innumerable children!

Do you honestly think that's going to happen, R5. Hell, the guy right before Benedict was even more guilty or protecting pedophile priests and they made him a saint.

No of course it won’t happen. But I’ll hope for a miracle

Ad multos annos, o Pontifex!

Ghastly creature, trussed up in silks, ermine, jewels and those awful red shoes. He was cosplaying Cardinal Richelieu in his head.

Well.....on the positive side, he likes cats.

[quote] This was the guy who looked like Emperor Palpatine, right?

Yeah. *Looked* like Emperor Palpatine. Right.

Fag.

Pope John Paul II led the church for nearly 27 years and was a great Pope, which is why today, he is Saint John Paul.

R13 Pope John Paul ll was not a great Pope. He was terribly homophobic, severely anti-abortion, conservative, and very traditional. He was a No Name Brand Pope, in power too long, and led the church in the wrong direction. He was kind of awful in many ways. Certainly not a saint to me!!

Isn't Benedict the Nazi?

[quote] Well.....on the positive side, he likes cats.

As do Bond villains. He would’ve made a great one.

He is a simple, humble worker in the vineyard of the Lord.

Ratzinger.

All terrible drag queens. Every fucking one of them.

What is it, you cunt face?

He might outlive Pope Francis.

I still want to know the real story behind why he retired as Pope. A very unusual move. Andrew Sullivan basically has said that Benedict is gay so I wonder if it's something to do with that.

This is his "assistant", Georg - pronounced Gay-Org. Now an Archbishop. Hey gurl, hey.

R23 Incredibly thin lips, not a good sign.

Benedict himself is so unappealing and a very small presence, I have to say. The charisma, confidence and presence of John Paul II and Francis are totally different.

R13 John Paul was a simpleton and a tiresome celebrity.

Jesus replied, "If you want to be perfect, go sell everything you own! Give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven. Then come and be my follower."

Take a good look at all the art/gold/treasures that the Vatican owns and then tell me that the Roman Catholic Church is a Christian organisation. There aren't any 'good' popes. They're all corrupt.

R26 They just mean 'give it all to the Church!'

One of my teachers told me that she did just that. (A Catholic.) She sold her house and gave everything she had to the Church. It was strange to me.

John Paul was a smart politician. Ratzo was just a windy "scholarly" authoritarian.

R27 Well the church may say that but when Jesus said it, there wasn't a church. But there were poor people and that's who he was talking about.

R28 Yeah, I think he was the wrong person for the job. The Pope is a figurehead, you need a politician for that.

R29 I guess it has been bastardised. Mother Teresa was the same. She raised billions and gave almost all of it to the Vatican rather than to actual poor people.

Mother Teresa was a sadist who enjoyed watching poor people die in agony. She did very little to actually help these poor people - they were not given medication or pain meds, nothing. She was an abomination.

The Catholic church is the one and only true Christian church. All the Protestant spinoffs are simply not legitimate.

R33 could argue that the Jews are God's chosen people and that the Catholic church is illegitimate....

[quote] The Catholic church is the one and only true Christian church.

R33, what are your thoughts on the eastern orthodox churches?

R32 = Christopher Hitchens

Pope Rat

Gay Catholics are such pathetic emotional masochists, like an abused wife who stays married to her abuser because she thinks he can change.

I agree with R22. Why has there not been greater speculation about his "retirement" and why it was even permitted? It was an unprecedented happening (at least in modern times, the extent of my knowledge) and yet it occurred without causing much of a ripple. Who's hiding what?

If there was a scandal behind his retirement, it was more likely related to some kind of embezzlement/financial scheme that happened involving one of Benedict’s close aides and the Vatican Bank. I don’t know much more than that, but there was a lot of reporting in niche Catholic publications around that time.

The Two Popes from a couple years ago was an unexpectedly GREAT film. Although likely more of a warm-hearted take on Catholicism than the Church deserves.

As for JPII, he had great PR, but no saint of mine would have allowed children to be abused and looked the other way.

Thank you dear Pope Emeritus Benny for bringing back – unlike the ghastly stick currently in the holy chair – GAY GLAMOUR to the role!

Now: we need to bring back papal coronations!

The supposed story behind his abdication is that he received a report on the extent of the child sex abuse and, more particularly, the involvement of very entrenched interests behind it. He realized that he could not manage or control the situation and was thus not suited for the role of a modern pope. As R28 and R30 indicated, a pope has to be a politician to be effective.

Some background on the Vatican Bank scandal:

Another fab papal coronation.

I prefer my popes to be elitist aristocratic snobs.

The Holy Father is the direct representative of the Lord here on earth and when he speaks he is speaking on behalf of the Lord.

What a load of nonsense, R46! You mean those old child molesters, protecting their own?

{quote]The Holy Father is the direct representative of the Lord here on earth and when he speaks he is speaking on behalf of the Lord.

I wonder if papal boyfriends also quality for holy authority.

Did Pope Paul's boyfriend Paolo Carlini ever perform miracles?

Typo: quality = qualify

R5 and R6, You too are the biggest pedos ever. That's why you're so obsessed.

R46 So when Pope John XII said, “hold those female pilgrims down so I can rape them” he was speaking on behalf of the Lord?

I loved THE TWO POPES, where he was played by Anthony Hopkins.