Joseph Ratzinger named new pope-- Benedict XVI

[LSPoorEeyorick]

Yahoo story here.

Wikipedia on Ratzinger.

His fan club.
"As Grand Inquisitor for Mother Rome, Ratzinger keeps himself busy in service to the Truth: correcting theological error, silencing dissenting theologians, and stomping down heresy wherever it may rear its ugly head."

This did not go the way I wanted; it did go the way I expected. Going to stomp down heresy, Bennie? Start with me. The transfiguration of wine to blood that you take so literally? I believe that JC was speaking figuratively.

[Name]

Originally Posted by LSPoorEeyorick

His fan club.
"As Grand Inquisitor for Mother Rome, Ratzinger keeps himself busy in service to the Truth: correcting theological error, silencing dissenting theologians, and stomping down heresy wherever it may rear its ugly head."

Does this mean we're in for a new "Spanish Inquisition"?

[LSPoorEeyorick]

Originally Posted by Name

Does this mean we're in for a new "Spanish Inquisition"?

Heh. Nobody expects it.

Seriously, though, John Paul II named him to the position of the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, which used to be called the Holy Office of the Inquisition. Basically, he lays smackdown on dissenting Catholics. Or he did. Before he was named Pope. Though he'll probably still do that, just from a position of more power. Swell!

[wendybeth]

I was disappointed in the choice, but not surprised. The Church thinks this Pope will be strong enough to silence the growing dissent, but I think he may end up being incredibly devisive. Wouldn't it be ironic if a german Pope led to a break between the Roman and American Church?

[Kevy Baby]

They made Cliff Claven from Cheers the Pope?!?

[mousepod]

from The Australian:

In 1937 Ratzinger's father retired and the family moved to Traunstein, a staunchly Catholic town in Bavaria. Ratzinger joined the Hitler Youth aged 14, shortly after membership was made compulsory in 1941. He soon won a dispensation on account of his training at a seminary. "Ratzinger was only briefly a member of the Hitler Youth and not an enthusiastic one," said John Allen, his biographer.

Two years later Ratzinger was enrolled in an anti-aircraft unit that protected a BMW factory making aircraft engines. The workforce included slave labour from the Dachau concentration camp. Ratzinger has insisted he never took part in combat or fired a shot – adding that his gun was not even loaded – because of a badly infected finger. He was sent to Hungary, where he set up tank traps and saw Jews being herded to death camps. He deserted in April 1944 and spent a few weeks in a prisoner of war camp.

Ratzinger has since said that although he was opposed to the Nazi regime, any open resistance would have been futile – comments echoed this weekend by his elder brother Georg, a retired priest ordained along with the cardinal in 1951.

"Resistance was truly impossible," Georg Ratzinger said. "Before we were conscripted, one of our teachers said we should fight and become heroic Nazis and another told us not to worry, as only one soldier in a thousand was killed. But neither of us ever used a rifle against the enemy."

Some locals in Traunstein, such as Elizabeth Lohner, 84, whose brother-in-law was sent to Dachau as a conscientious objector, dismiss such suggestions. "It was possible to resist, and those people set an example for others," she said. "The Ratzingers were young and they had made a different choice."

[scaeagles]

I am not a Catholic, so perhaps I am not understanding.

If you are a member of the Catholic church, does not the Pope have pretty much the final say on church doctrine? Church doctrine has not changed much recently, if I recall correctly. So a Pope who wishes to keep the church teaching constant is a bad thing? I have never understood (again, not being a Catholic) the calls for liberalizing or modernizing church teachings to "keep up with society" or some such thing. It would seem that church teachings should remain constant regardless of the direction society moves.

Am I missing something?

[Sheila]

Originally Posted by scaeagles

Am I missing something?

I think the main fears that many American Catholics have is that Ratzinger will reject all the Vatican II reforms and go back to a much more conservative Catholic church -- the one where women have a much more subservient role, the masses held in Latin only, etc.

[LSPoorEeyorick]

Originally Posted by scaeagles

Am I missing something?

Not directly. Though Christ said "what's loosed on earth will be loosed on heaven," updating doctrine probably undermines the doctrine in the first place. Despite many growing to reject the doctrine and falling away.

Nevertheless, opposing the ordination of women is backwards, in my estimation. He has the power to allow it, but he won't.

[scaeagles]

Originally Posted by LSPoorEeyorick

Despite many growing to reject the doctrine and falling away.

Didn't the Catholic church have huge growth under a pretty strict and unmoving John Paul II, though?