Habemus Papam!

[MrBug708]

Well done.

[EagleFan]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

White smoke

One hell of a hookah.

[Edward64]

Pretty cool story

Pope stuns newsstand owner by calling to cancel home delivery - World News

He's the leader of 1.2 billion Catholics around the globe, but Pope Francis isn't too busy or important to cancel his newspaper delivery.

The new pontiff — known as Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio until his election — shocked an Argentinian newspaper seller when he phoned earlier this week to say he wouldn't be needing the papers any more.

"Hi Daniel, it's Cardinal Jorge," he told Daniel Del Regno, according to the Catholic News Agency.

Del Regno, whose father owned the Buenos Aires newspaper kiosk, thought it was a joke.

"Seriously, it's Jorge Bergoglio," the pope continued. "I'm calling you from Rome."

Del Regno said once he realized one of the most influential men in the world really was calling to make sure no more papers were delivered to his apartment, he was "in shock."

"I broke down in tears and didn’t know what to say,” Del Regno told the Argentinean newspaper La Nacion. "He thanked me for delivering the paper all this time and sent best wishes to my family."

[Groundhog]

My favourite thing about this current pope is how he keeps doing things that regular humans do.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

My favourite thing about this current pope is how he keeps doing things that regular humans do.

Yeah - hopefully it continues.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

My favourite thing about this current pope is how he keeps doing things that regular humans do.

But now, IIRC, he has to do one of those things in the woods

[M GO BLUE!!!]

Originally Posted by panerd

White smoke signals new pope elected in secret conclave - Yahoo! News

LOL. The story is in the science section.

It's poetry in motion!

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

But now, IIRC, he has to do one of those things in the woods

SI

[molson]

Originally Posted by Edward64

Pretty cool story

Pope stuns newsstand owner by calling to cancel home delivery - World News

The next time the annoying DirecTV person asks me why I'm cancelling a channel I'm going to tell them its because I've been elected pope. That should be a thing. Any time a subscription service makes you call and wait on hold before badgering you with questions and offers, just tell them you've been elected pope. Everyone, from now on. OK, cool.

[ISiddiqui]

This Pope is SO behind the times .

I mean who subscribes to a paper newspaper anymore?!

[MrBug708]

Originally Posted by molson

The next time the annoying DirecTV person asks me why I'm cancelling a channel I'm going to tell them its because I've been elected pope. That should be a thing. Any time a subscription service makes you call and wait on hold before badgering you with questions and offers, just tell them you've been elected pope. Everyone, from now on. OK, cool.

It might be poor karma to do it in other situations, but when my FIL cancelled certain services due to the death of my MIL, nobody really argued.

[Passacaglia]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

This Pope is SO behind the times .

I mean who subscribes to a paper newspaper anymore?!

I subscribe to all of them.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Impressive.

Pope 'snub' of concert stuns cardinals, sends signal - Yahoo! News

[DaddyTorgo]

Very cool - I like this guy. Austerity-Pope FTW!!!!

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

Very cool - I like this guy. Austerity-Pope FTW!!!!

If he did indeed not make his intention known until the last minute, it seems like an asshat (no pun intended) move to me.

If he wants to send messages or issue orders to his subordinates, fine & dandy ... but that's a rather rough slap in the face of performers who presumably had nothing to do with his ire.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Not really crazy about the whole rush to make Pope John Paul II a saint. With that said, another clear indicator by this guy on changes he's attempting to make. Ford should donate money to a charity of his choice just for being the new popemobile......

What would Jesus drive? Pope tells priests to buy "humble" cars - Yahoo! News

[JPhillips]

Wonder if I should ask my college pres about his new Audi?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Okay, am I the only person who finds this story a rather interesting contrast with the whole snubbing-the-concert story from last month?

Pope Francis presided over one of the most solemn rites of the Catholic Church on Friday, a procession re-enacting Christ's crucifixion that received a Broadway-like treatment befitting its improbable location, Rio's hedonistic Copacabana beach.

Copacabana, which hosts Carnival and Rolling Stones concerts when bikini-clad beauties aren't sunbathing on its white sands, lived up to its reputation by staging a wildly theatrical, and very Latin telling of the Way of the Cross, complete with huge stage sets, complex lighting, a full orchestra and a cast of hundreds acting out a modern version of the biblical story.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Okay, am I the only person who finds this story a rather interesting contrast with the whole snubbing-the-concert story from last month?

Pretty much.

One's an extracurricular, and one (regardless of location) is a church ceremony.

[ISiddiqui]

I like the idea that we will pull out all the stops for a retelling of the Way of the Cross, but aren't all that into that pomp and circumstance for a concert (ie, one is worth it, but the other isn't).

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

I like the idea that we will pull out all the stops for a retelling of the Way of the Cross, but aren't all that into that pomp and circumstance for a concert (ie, one is worth it, but the other isn't).

Maybe it's all in the description, or the interpretation of the description (from the snippet I quoted)

{shrug}

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Love to hear this coming from the Pope. I'm not Catholic, but an easing of rhetoric in some of the Catholic faith's more judgmental policies would go a long way towards acceptance of various groups.

Pope Francis on gays: `Who am I to judge?' – CNN Belief Blog - CNN.com Blogs

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

Love to hear this coming from the Pope. I'm not Catholic, but an easing of rhetoric in some of the Catholic faith's more judgmental policies would go a long way towards acceptance of various groups.

And in the reduction of another domination to just another "I'm okay, you're okay" joke.

Honestly, considering the respect I had for his predecessor (even as a non-Catholic), I have to wonder just what the Cardinals were smoking when they picked this clown.

[Butter]

The answer is, "you're the Pope."

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Butter_of_69

The answer is, "you're the Pope."

Hmm, this might actually lend itself to the naming of a new super-weed.

"Dude, what is this stuff? It's awesome"
"Conclave"

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

Love to hear this coming from the Pope. I'm not Catholic, but an easing of rhetoric in some of the Catholic faith's more judgmental policies would go a long way towards acceptance of various groups.

Pope Francis on gays: `Who am I to judge?' – CNN Belief Blog - CNN.com Blogs

While this sounds nice on the surface, this is the same person who as little as three years ago, was calling Argentina's move towards marriage equality for gays as a "war against god". That is was the work of the Devil trying to confuse God's children.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

While this sounds nice on the surface, this is the same person who as little as three years ago, was calling Argentina's move towards marriage equality for gays as a "war against god". That is was the work of the Devil trying to confuse God's children.

In other words: "Gay priests - don't ask don't tell. Gay parishioners - go away."

[MrBug708]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

While this sounds nice on the surface, this is the same person who as little as three years ago, was calling Argentina's move towards marriage equality for gays as a "war against god". That is was the work of the Devil trying to confuse God's children.

So you would rather see him sticking with his old stance?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

So you would rather see him sticking with his old stance?

+1.

People can change their stance. Rather than attacking them for their past stance, applaud them for seeing the wrong in their previous stance and moving to a better place of thinking.

[Breeze]

Or realize his "new" public opinion might be different from his private one...

[ISiddiqui]

Well, it is slightly different. After all, priests are supposed to be celibate anyways, so gay priests are no different in that aspect. They just have different sexual temptations from straight priests.

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

So you would rather see him sticking with his old stance?

There's also a big difference between being an underling and being in charge. I don't know if his opinion changed or if he's just now free to voice it.

[MrBug708]

Originally Posted by Breeze

Or realize his "new" public opinion might be different from his private one...

I wish more people would do this in politics.

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

So you would rather see him sticking with his old stance?

Of course not. I'm saying that he is 77 I believe and as of three years ago he was totally against gay marriage rights, and I'm guessing from what I've read gay priests. I find it hard that becoming Pope could transform him that much personally. Its nice to see him step it down from his earlier stance, but I wonder if he was not Pope he'd be saying these things now? Anyone have a more recent article before he became Pope where he was saying these things?

[larrymcg421]

If he'd said this three years earlier, there is zero chance that he is pope now.

[molson]

There's a difference between personally accepting someone's gay lifestyle and not personally placing spiritual/religious judgment on someone. The latter is the only part that really matters when it comes to Christianity, and I think plenty of priests and other Christian leaders don't do the first but strive to do the second. That's kind of the point of the whole deal. Everybody has certain personal morals and viewpoints that they won't "accept" in others, but Christians are supposed to still not judge them in a religious sense.

[molson]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

Well, it is slightly different. After all, priests are supposed to be celibate anyways, so gay priests are no different in that aspect. They just have different sexual temptations from straight priests.

Ya, that's a big difference too. It's not quite the same thing but even back in the 60s when my father was in Lutheran seminary, there were "gay" pastors, they just weren't allowed to be "practicing" gays. What is a sexual desire if it's not acted on? In fact, I'm sure back then a lot of people with "gay tendencies" were encouraged to go to catholic and protestant seminary, because if they turned themselves over to god and didn't do gay stuff, then they wouldn't be "gay" anymore. Homosexuality wasn't considered an inherent, irreversible thing, it was a sin of the mind that you couldn't give in to.

[JPhillips]

Didn't JP3 say that it wasn't actions, but desire that mattered for priests? Having gay desires is sinful regardless of whether or not they are acted upon.

Obviously, this doesn't mean there aren't gay priests, but I don't think that stance has officially changed yet.

[molson]

I think the terminology is odd and maybe represents a changing mindset - how can a priest even be "gay" if they're not acting on it? I think that's a relatively new idea. Maybe the desires are sinful, but I don't think, in the past, catholic and protestant churches would deem you irrevocably "gay" if you had gay desires, they'd push you towards religion and prayer to cleanse yourself of that sin. Maybe there's a growing acceptance that priests can have gay desires and that's all fine and good? That seems odd considering even heterosexual desires have to be suppressed by priests. How can a priest be either straight or gay if they're supposed to suppress any sexual desire?

Edit: Also, I wonder, is he saying all this stuff in English? I wonder if anything's being lost in translation. There's some nuances here to how this is described.

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

Didn't JP3 say that it wasn't actions, but desire that mattered for priests? Having gay desires is sinful regardless of whether or not they are acted upon.

Obviously, this doesn't mean there aren't gay priests, but I don't think that stance has officially changed yet.

I think it is quite the opposite, actually JP2 indicated that desires matter not (we all have sinful desires - that's what happens to fallen men), but it is the actions that matter.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

The pope picked up a new grocery-getter.

Pope Francis’ newest ride: A 29-year-old beater with 186,000 miles | Motoramic - Yahoo Autos

[Kodos]

As popes go, this one ain't bad.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Pope Francis Blesses Man With Disfigured Face Displaying Healing Power Of Love

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Amazing stuff here. As shocked as some Catholics may be, I think the other religions will likely even further be caught off guard. The Catholic leadership would have been the last one I would have guessed to knock down so many walls in a single speech. I couldn't agree more with everything in his speech. This kind of progressive move is going to have repercussions through all religions and I think we're going to see a drastic reformation of many religions. If they don't, they're going to realize what the Catholic Church already knows.......you are going to be left behind by more progressive religions.

Pope Francis Condemns Racism And Declares That “All Religions Are True� At Historic Third Vatican Council | Diversity Chronicle

[SackAttack]

Hey, MBBF? That's satire. As cool as it would be, it didn't actually happen.

[cartman]

Disclaimer | Diversity Chronicle

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by cartman

Disclaimer | Diversity Chronicle

There you go. Made far too much sense. Thanks.

[SackAttack]

You didn't, like, notice that it was a WordPress URL and go 'hm, maybe I should check Google News first'?

This...explains a lot, actually.

[Edward64]

Com'on, just say it ... but I guess there may be unpredictable, severe consequences and repercussions if he did.

Pope says ISIS must be stopped. But how? – CNN Belief Blog - CNN.com Blogs

(CNN) – Nearly everyone agrees that the militant Muslim group marauding through northern Iraq must be stopped. The question is, how?

Asked if he approved of the American airstrikes against ISIS, Pope Francis withheld his moral imprimatur on Monday, refusing to fully support or denounce the military campaign.

"I can only say this: It is licit to stop the unjust aggressor," the pontiff said during a press conference on the plane back to Rome from South Korea. "I underline the verb: stop. I do not say bomb, make war, I say stop by some means."

In an apparent reference to the United States, Francis said "one nation alone cannot judge" the best means of stopping groups like ISIS, which calls itself the Islamic State.

Those decisions should be made collectively by the United Nations, the pontiff said.

"It is there that this should be discussed. Is there an unjust aggressor? It would seem there is. How do we stop him?" the Pope asked, without answering his own question.

Already, Francis' cautious comments about American airstrikes and the use of force have fostered a welter of interpretations, from "tacit approval" to a "yellow light" to outright endorsement.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

The pope's lunch plans tomorrow are exactly why we love the dude so much.