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Do you REALLY care about the next Pope?

How much do you care about who the next Pope is?


  • Total voters
    106

I have lived in the north and the south and it is a fact there are many more Catholics in the north then in the south........There are states in the NE and East where Catholics outnumber every other religion
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That is probably true, I am trying to recollect where I last saw a catholic church down here in Georgia and I can't. Now when I was stationed in Germany, it seemed everyone was catholic. Vietnam had its share, but Thailand and Laos were almost all Buddhist. I was stationed in Missouri and Kentucky and I don't remember seeing any catholic churches there either. Probably all depends on where you live or are. Still one out of six isn't bad.
 
If you add all the protestants faiths together they are probably pretty close to the Catholics.

I never keep track of these things, actually I never even thought of how many were what in the world. I was just kind of shocked when the reporter covering the election of the new pope said there were over a billion Catholics. I never dreamed there were so many.
 
I would argue that you vote in a way that agrees with how you interpret catholic doctrine, among other things. That's splitting hairs though. I suspect (based on the ones I know) that the majority of Catholics in the US are influenced to some degree or another by their faith when voting, but it's hardly the only thing that matters to them.

And I can't see the new pope being too much different than the old one, so I don't see anything really changing much. The Catholic church tends to be extremely conservative and slow to change with the times, and the popes reflect that.

You might be surprised to hear that there have been many changes in the church in the last 50 years such as the Mass in English, Altar girls. fasting before communion, etc....They have tried to bring it into the 21st century but there are some that fight the changes...........
 
So long as it's not the "last" prophesied Pope, I don't give a damn. Religion, to me, is bunk.

I am always sorry to here a statement like that. I would hope you might change before you meet your creator on judgment day.
 
That is probably true, I am trying to recollect where I last saw a catholic church down here in Georgia and I can't. Now when I was stationed in Germany, it seemed everyone was catholic. Vietnam had its share, but Thailand and Laos were almost all Buddhist. I was stationed in Missouri and Kentucky and I don't remember seeing any catholic churches there either. Probably all depends on where you live or are. Still one out of six isn't bad.

You could say the same for Italy, Spain and the Phillipines....they are actually born Catholic.........
 
I am always sorry to here a statement like that. I would hope you might change before you meet your creator on judgment day.

Well, I'm agnostic, so I am open to the possibility of a divine creator, but without concrete evidence, I cannot make a precise judgment. However, organized religion, which is what I was referring to, is problematic, and has been since its invention. The problem, if you're wondering, is the overall human element involved.
 

You could say the same for Italy, Spain and the Phillipines....they are actually born Catholic.........

I should have realized that. But like I said, I never thought about it before. What is the church of England, is it protestant or catholic? France I suppose is mostly catholic, Eastern Europe use to be before communism.
 
Well, I'm agnostic, so I am open to the possibility of a divine creator, but without concrete evidence, I cannot make a precise judgment. However, organized religion, which is what I was referring to, is problematic, and has been since its invention. The problem, if you're wondering, is the overall human element involved.

It takes a great deal of faith to believe in something that you can't touch or see........
 
I should have realized that. But like I said, I never thought about it before. What is the church of England, is it protestant or catholic? France I suppose is mostly catholic, Eastern Europe use to be before communism.

England is mostly Protestant, Episcopalian I believe........
 
I'm just wondering what the new pope is going to change his name to. A Pope Hilarius existed in the first millenia, maybe this one should be Hilarius II :mrgreen:
 

It takes a great deal of faith to believe in something that you can't touch or see........

And that's the problem. But, if there is a God, and we are to meet, I am hopefully that the line of free will, myfree will, will suffice in doubt of Him.
 

You might be surprised to hear that there have been many changes in the church in the last 50 years such as the Mass in English, Altar girls. fasting before communion, etc....They have tried to bring it into the 21st century but there are some that fight the changes...........

I'm not saying nothing changes, I'm just saying that things change very slowly.
 
Well now, c'mon at least be honest. Yes, we know you don't ultimately worship the priests, they are the middlemen for your entry into heaven and to forgiveness. If the clergy say you're excommunicated, you're boned in the spiritual sense and forgiveness/heaven are not available to you.
Forgiveness is always available to the penitent.
 
What percentage of the "1.2 billion" would that be?

Less than 50%?

15%?

Under 10%?

Perhaps you're too young to remember what a phone booth is...it's basically a closet, room enough for one person uncomfortably. I was making a joke about sinful human nature.
 
Perhaps you're too young to remember what a phone booth is...it's basically a closet, room enough for one person uncomfortably. I was making a joke about sinful human nature.

One of those things that Superman used as a changing room, and Neo used to get back to Morpheus .
 

During the reign of King Henry VIII, he broke away from the Catholic Church because they would not approve his divorce from Catherine, mother of the future Queen known as "Bloody Mary," so he could marry Ann Boleyn, mother of the future Queen Elizabeth. He started the Church of England 500+ years ago, resulting in a chism in the populace and many deaths in the years that followed....
 
Perhaps you're too young to remember what a phone booth is...it's basically a closet, room enough for one person uncomfortably. I was making a joke about sinful human nature.

I'm almost 50. Very aware of what a phone booth is/was.

Just missed the joke...:3oops:
 
Well, I'm agnostic, so I am open to the possibility of a divine creator, but without concrete evidence, I cannot make a precise judgment. However, organized religion, which is what I was referring to, is problematic, and has been since its invention. The problem, if you're wondering, is the overall human element involved.
Haven't you ever wondered why? I'm not referring to religion. I'm meaning, for example, why humans experience pleasure? It's certainly not a requirement for survival.
 
John Paul faltered quite a bit in his last 5 to 7 years of his reign, and did little to inspire Catholics.

Ratzinger (Benedict) has not traveled much, and has done little to rectify the ongoing problems of the child abuse scandals.

At this point, a new Pope who is outgoing, gregarious, and works diligently to bring lost Catholics back to the church and set the standards for eradication of the sex scandals is a desperately needed breath of fresh air.
 
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