If The Next Pope Is A Liberal

[THUNDER HANDS]

Poll question: If The Next Pope Is A Liberal

Lets say, hypothetically speaking, that after Pope John Paul II dies, he is replaced by a vastly more progressive man.

A man who respects both gays and women.

A man who stands firmly against war and violence.

Would you be more or less likely to find a renewed interest in Catholicism.

I ask because it's been said that the Pope's arch conservative stances on issues has driven many Catholics away from the church.

[LittleApple81]

1. Are you kidding? This pope made sure there is NO chance of

a more liberal pope after him. After this pope the deluge.
All his appointees are ultra conservative, and that is the pool where the next pope will be selected from.

[THUNDER HANDS]

3. you obviously know more about this than me

Was there ever a liberal pope, in history?

[youngred]

5. Yes

there have been many, there have been many conservatives and the majority just maintained the status quo

[trogdor]

7. Paul VI was pretty progressive

...as Popes go.

[Minstrel Boy]

8. John XXIII and John Paul I were, as I understand it,

relatively liberal.

Conservative Popes seem to survive much longer than liberal ones. It's funny that way...

[MSchreader]

10. Billy Joel had it right

Only the good die young.

Martin
"Rather laugh with the sinners
Than cry with the saints.
The sinners are much more fun!"

[SpaceCatMeetsMars]

15. Yes. Pope John got rid of the Latin mass and put in place many other

reforms in the early sixties. My relatives all had pictures of him and JFK on their walls durung the sixties and seventies - they loved him. Catholic children in that day, like me, had a much different experience of the Church than our older siblings and parents. We didn't have mean nuns that hit us with rulers, but nice nuns that had us sit in the grass and sing "Blowing in the Wind" and "Kumbaya" and other folk songs. It was a huge change.

[emad]

16. wish they had been 'blowing in the wind' in our parish.....

the local convent where I lived got busted for running a paedophile brothel, selling its kindergarten kids to dirty old men, to pay for repairs to the nunnery roof..... as well as lawyers' fees for when they got done for soliciting in the town centre to raise money for a pilgrimage to Fatima....
Wow! Those were the days....

[Forkboy]

2. If The Next Pope Is A Liberal

I'll be freakin amazed!!!!

[youngred]

4. That's a fairly big assumption

PJPII stuffed the college of cardinals with Arch-Conservatives. No way its going to happen i'm afraid.

That said. The Pope doesn't make or break my Catholicism...I do. It doesn't matter to me if the pope is green with purple tufts of hair everywhere, Catholicism works for me as a vehicle for my faith and until it stops fulfiling that need it is my church

[trogdor]

6. I used to actually enjoy Mass

...back in the days of Paul VI. I've been to Protestant services of various flavors, and it doesn't compare - not even close.

I don't expect miracles, but not encouraging the right wing would be a great help. We have one next door - homeschool, lots of kids, pro-life bumperstickers on the huge van they haul the kids around in, and every once in a while, the dad goes absolutely ballistic on one of the kids - you can hear it from inside our house, nearly 100m away. Friggin' nazis, they are.

Considering the RCC's legacy over the past several centuries, you'd think they'd get a little progressive - and be public about it - to get people to "come home."

[no_hypocrisy]

9. If the next Pope is a liberal, he may suddenly die within a month after

his installation like John Paul I in September, 1978. (Remember the Smiling Pope?)

There is a book about possible conspiracy theories with regard to JP #1's death: natural or assassination. Probably out of print.

[emad]

11. It's called 'In God's Name'

by David Yallop

He's got a website:http://www.yallop.co.uk/

[emad]

12. Next Pope is more likely to be a WOMAN than a liberal.....

JP2 has stitched up Opus Dei so tight that no one is going to bankroll anyone except some sex-obsessed dimwit, somewhere to the right of Atilla the Hun...

Current odds:

Chinese pope: 5/4 fav (see Schiller Institute - Bush 1's 'thinktank')
Taiwanese pope: 6/4 2nd fav
North Korean pope: 2-1 (with a run)
Chechen pope: 3-1 (farrier's permission pending)......

[Gman]

13. JPII is not an "arch conservative"

IMHO. Paul VI was an arch conservative. John XXIII was a liberal. JPII is somewhere in between, but more right than left.

[Padraig18]

20. I agree

If any term accurately describes john Paul II, it is traditionalist.

[CWebster]

14. hell no

They'd rather the Church go down in flames rather than risk another beloved Pope John XXIII. How quickly we forget the "Smiling Pope" who died after mysterous circumstances --having been Pope for only days before they propped up the present pope on the throne.

"Two weeks later the conclave elected the first Polish pope - Karol Wojtyla, who took the name John Paul II.

A whiff of conspiracy hung over the Vatican, and some Catholic groups called for a full investigation into the circumstances of John Paul I's death.

They believed the liberal, working-class pope was poisoned in a plot by the Papal See's traditionalist wing.

But no post-mortem was carried out and an investigation was not held.

Allegations of an assassination re-surfaced 20 years later from Cardinal Aloisio Lorscheider - one of the dead Pope's closest allies - but the accusations never became generally accepted."


http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/29/newsid_2542000/2542375.stm

[pansypoo53219]

17. he would probably die

toot suite. the short lived John paul I was apparently to the left of the current pope.
so nice that us Lutherans don't know squat about any 'leader' of our church.

[OneBlueSky]

18. no way, no how . . .

JPII has stacked the College of Cardinals with conservatives, and they'll be doing the electing . . . expect the next Pope to have an outlook and policies similar to the current one . . .

[CoffeePlease1947]

19. I think a liberal Pope is what we need to strengthen the Church.

I think this would help bring new Catholics back to the church. Many young people have ignored the church that were raised Catholic because of some of the silly stances it has.
I would like to see a non-white Pope that is liberal minded. I would like to see it change its stance on:

Birth control from no birth control to: "Have as many children as you can care for and no more"

Gays and Lesbians from being a sin to: "The way God created them"

Women being banned from preisthood to: "God speaks through who he wishes"

A ban on Marriage to: "Allow marriage to keep pedophiles from hiding in the church"

No Abortion to: "To save the life of the mother or if the child is deformed beyond curing"

Either way, we need a Pope that can bring back in the "lost sheep" so to speak and reform the church from corruption and sexual scandal. It needs to be flexable and inclusive of all of God's children.

Just my thoughts.

Mike