The Pope resigns

And probably queers and gays and lesbians and anyone who isn't straight who prefers a term other than homosexual. Pope Francis probably thinks those people should rot in hell.
 
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Well, he said that sex marriage is a plan of the Devil to deceive the righteous.

Not a promising sign.
 
Spang said:
And probably queers and gays and lesbians and anyone who isn't straight who prefers a term other than homosexual. Pope Francis probably thinks those people should rot in hell.
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I would be surprised if any Cardinal thinks differently about this, about female clergy, about abortion, etc. This is the Roman Catholic Church after all.
 
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I'm sure the new pope didn't name himself after St. Francis of Assisi because of the saint's reverence for animals, but that would certainly be a plus. That's what JP II was known for, apparently.
 
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Per NPR:

This new pope was silent during Argentina's "dirty war", much like an earlier pope was silent during WWII...

And just so there's no guessing, he actively opposed an initiative by the gov't to allow gay marrage.

So same old, same old.
 
Here is an interview with Pope Francis' s biographer. http://www.politico.com/story/2013/...latin-america-and-background-88818_Page3.html
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In my opinion, no pope is going to please everyone, especially not progessives or those with socially liberal ideas. This is the Roman Catholic Church we are talking about, after all. In countries being run by murderous dictators, the Church usually hunkers down to wait it out so it can survive. Unlike most clerics in his country at the time, the new pope did speak out against the murderous government on several occasions, and intervened to save a couple of priests held prisoner by them.

Then his country went in a flash from dictators to a progressive government that gives free birth control and has legal same sex marriages, so his pushing back on these issues is not surprising. Again, Catholic.

The main thing that gives me hope for the world's catholics are the actions that this pope has taken. A man who throws off the rich trappings and lives in a small apartment heated by a stove, a man who was raised humbly and has a degree in philosophy amongst his education, he seems to be a true and real Christian. From blessing and washing the feet of AIDS patients to feeding the poor and standing up for single mothers, I feel this will be a true people's pope who will bring hope and light to the lives of people who don't know where their next meal is coming from.
But then I tend to be a little optimistic. :-)
 
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:::Trigger warning for pope/religion talk.:::

I thought these were interesting quotes from the new pope at his first press conference. (From cnn website)
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" "Right away, with regard to the poor, I thought of St. Francis of Assisi, then I thought of war," he told the assembled journalists. "Francis loved peace and that is how the name came to me."

He had also thought of St. Francis of Assisi's concern for the natural environment, he said, and how he was a "poor man, a simple man, as we would like a poor church, for the poor.""
 
kibbleforlola said:
I wish we were in a position where non-Catholics didn't have to care about the head of the Catholic church.
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I think that non-Catholics are interested in who is Pope primarily because of the historical context of the Catholic Church, as well as its pageantry. After all, various of the ultra conservative Protestant denominations influence U.S. conservative politics to a much, much greater extent than Catholicism does, and no one even bothers to pay attention who heads those denominations.
 
mlp said:
I think that non-Catholics are interested in who is Pope primarily because of the historical context of the Catholic Church, as well as its pageantry. After all, various of the ultra conservative Protestant denominations influence U.S. conservative politics to a much, much greater extent than Catholicism does, and no one even bothers to pay attention who heads those denominations.
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Does any of the major protestant denominations have such a large share of Christianity as Catholicism does? Lutherans are fractured three ways (the three major Lutheran synods), Baptists are all over the place. Dunno about Methodists or the other groups.
 
This doesn't really break down the Protestants in too much depth, but has some information. From '07.
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http://religions.pewforum.org/reports
 
Here's something I found:

1. The Catholic Church 68,202,492, [ranked 1 in 2011] , down 0.44 percent.
2. Southern Baptist Convention 16,136,044, [ranked 2 in 2011] , down 0.15 percent.
** Since the 2010 census of nondenominational/independent congregations, we now know that this grouping of churches, if taken together, would be the second largest Protestant group in the country with over 35,000 congregations and over 12,200,000 adherents.
3. The United Methodist Church 7,679,850, [ranked 3 in 2011] , down 1.22 percent.
4. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 6,157,238, [ranked 4 in 2011], up 1.62 percent.
5. The Church of God in Christ 5,499,875, [ranked 5 in 2011] , no update reported.
6. National Baptist Convention , U.S.A. , Inc. 5,197,512, [ranked 6 in 2011] , up 3.95 percent.
7. Evangelical Lutheran Church in America 4,274,855, [ranked 7 in 2011] , down 5.90 percent.
8. National Baptist Convention of America , Inc. 3,500,000, [ranked 8 in 2011] , no update reported.
9. Assemblies of God 3,030,944, [ranked 9 in 2011] , up 3.99 percent.
10. Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) 2,675,873, [ranked 10 in 2011] , down 3.42 percent.
11. African Methodist Episcopal Church 2,500,000, [ranked 11 in 2011] , no update reported.
12. National Missionary Baptist Convention of America 2,500,000, [ranked 11 in 2011] , no update reported.
13. The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod (LCMS) 2,278,586, [ranked 13 in 2011] , down 1.45 percent.
14. The Episcopal Church 1,951,907, [ranked 14 in 2011] , down 2.71 percent.
15. Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, Inc. 1,800,000, ranked 15 [ranked 17 in 2011] , up 20 percent.
16. Churches of Christ 1,639,495, [ranked 15 in 2011] , no update reported.
17. Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America 1,500,000 , [ranked 16 in 2011] , no update reported.
18. The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church 1,400,000, [ranked 18 in 2011] , no update reported.
19. American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A. 1,308,054, [ranked 19 in 2011] , down 0.19 percent.
20. Jehovah’s Witnesses 1,184,249, [ranked 20 in 2011] , up 1.85 percent.
21. Church of God ( Cleveland , Tennessee ) 1,074,047, [ranked 22 in 2011] , down 0.21 percent.
22. Christian Churches and Churches of Christ 1,071,616, [ranked 23 in 2011] , no update reported.
23. Seventh-day Adventist Church 1,060,386, [ranked 24 in 2011] , up 1.61 percent.
24. United Church of Christ 1,058,423, [ranked 21 in 2011], down 2.02 percent.
25. Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc. 1,010,000, [ranked 25 in 2011 ], no update reported.
Total membership in top 25 churches: 145,691,446, down 1.15 percent.
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- Source

If that list is correct, Catholics easily make up the largest chunk of Christians in the country.
 
There are actually a couple of things I like about the new pope. This isn't one of those things:
Pope Francis reaffirms crackdown on U.S. nuns
The pontiff backs a Vatican assessment last year that the Leadership Conference of Women Religious was promoting 'radical feminist themes.'

ROME — Pope Francis has backed the Vatican's doctrinal crackdown on a major group of American nuns, reasserting the Roman Catholic Church's conservative approach to various social issues in a move that could cool the warm reception he has received from some liberal Catholics since taking office last month.
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