So, I’ve discovered that the Pope is ill once again. And it’s being heavily covered on CNN. Over the past years, I have always noticed that in the news, when major events happen btw countries, there is always a statement or some kind of involvement from the Pope. Any one care to enlighten this Catholic on why the Pope has so much pull?
Because he’s the spiritual leader of more than a billion people?
Believed to be above politics, and therefore his opinions carry more moral weight than the possibly self-serving opinions of poiticians?
Political leaders come and go, but he’s God’s representative on earth?
You’re a Catholic and you don’t know? You need to talk to your priest.
Maybe you shouldn’t have been drinking all that wine they give you at communion 
Perhaps you should have stayed awake at Sunday school… :loco:
[quote=“Grasshopper”]Maybe you shouldn’t have been drinking all that wine they give you at communion
[/quote]
Spot the proddy! You should look up transubstantiation. US catholics can’t get pissed on the communion wine, only them other lot can 
the pope sucks. his ego and his handlers are keeping a frail, old man at the helm. somebody needs to sit him down, NOW.
he is a cardinal. cardinals are required to retire at 75. there is good reason for such- over 75 is too old.
retire now pope and do the world a favor. yes, you don’t have to die in office. do it today.
If you had a Namahottie mobile you’d have pull too.
My catholic parents don’t like the pope at all.
Some time ago (1960s) I think, the Catholic Church had Vatican 2 - a council that did a lot to reform the church - makeit more modern and liberal. John Paul the First was expected to continue this movement, but he died after only few months in office (1978 or so) to be replaced by the current conservative John Paul the second.
What my parents particularly dislike is is rollback of church reform. They would both like to see the priesthood opened up to married men, women,a nd maybe even gays. This is not going to happen in a very long time now. Personally, I don’t care, but my parents hate the fact that their church is dying becuase noone wants to be priests anymore. It’s seen as increasingly less relevant to the modern world. The way they tried to hush up all the sex abuse scandals is just one symptom of this. For me, the worst thing is the current pope’s hardline anti-condom stance. I hold him personally responsible for the deaths of countless third-world Catholics to AIDS.
I won’t be shedding any tears when this guy finally kicks the bucket.
Brian
He’s like Richard Gere, except for Catholics.
Hey, give me all that moolah and media coverage, and a billion people who fervently believe they should listen to me half-interestedly, and I’ll make an even bigger splash.
BuLaiEn gave me a pretty good insight to all the hoo haw around the pope. Yep, I’m catholic, but at home my parents never talk about the Pope, and I 've gave him much thought…But thanks for the real and not so real but funny answers
Stalin asked the same question you ask.
When told he should consider the opinion of the Pope, regarding a political matter, Stalin demurred “How many divisions does the Pope have?”
Particularly in Asia, it makes no sense to speak of a leader with no military might.
Have you looked at the line-up of potentials?
Maybe he’s hanging on to the pope spot because he knows/his puppetmasters know that the next pope is bound to be more liberal, or worse…
Hahahahaha! 
You just made my day! :bravo: That’s the funniest thing I’ve read all week! 
So I jump ship in Hong Kong and make my way over to Tibet, and I get on as a looper at a course over in the Himalayas.
A looper, you know, a caddy, a looper, a jock. So, I tell them I’m a pro jock, and who do you think they give me? The Dalai Lama, himself. Twelfth son of the Lama. The flowing robes, the grace, bald… striking.
So, I’m on the first tee with him. I give him the driver. He hauls off and whacks one—big hitter, the Lama—long, into a ten-thousand foot crevasse, right at the base of this glacier. Do you know what the Lama says? Gunga galunga… gunga, gunga-galunga.
So we finish the eighteenth and he’s gonna stiff me. And I say, “Hey, Lama, hey, how about a little something, you know, for the effort, you know.” And he says, “Oh, uh, there won’t be any money, but when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consiousness.”
[b]So I got that goin’ for me, which is nice.[/b]