the same person wo uses this forum for advertising, is a person who does not have the ability to engage in a discussion, he/she lives in their own little world of make believe;

as for the Pope, he is in very bad health and can not even walk anymore, without help, he is doing the correct thing in retiring, he well knows the west and the church are under attack from the new movements which want to erase all history and impose their new world order on all humanity.

Never cared for a man of God that took part in the Nazi movement during WWII.

Regardless whether he was a teen or not, he could have fled the country. I'm

a devoted catholic and even my grand parents would have been upset with his

appointment.

Even in poor health, previous popes had camerlengo (assistant) to aid the pope.

TB7140 How bout' using some of those christian values you apparently have, Mr."devoted catholic",and get off your high horse!

He was a 14 year old boy, he really had no choice. And if you think he could flee a dictated country on his own at that age your out of touch with reality!

Zandog. My grandmother left Poland at the age of 13. By herself.

shocker!!...pope changes rules to hide pedophiles....no, wait.....

I wonder if the time will ever come when humans stop leaning on fictitious beliefs as a crutch for their own sad and, sometimes, evil behavior.. I mean, come on, we've been using God (in one form or another) to excuse our hideous treatment of each other and the other animals on this planet for thousands of years now, it's time we grew up and started laying the blame right where it belongs, on our own shoulders!

It's really time we stood on our on two-feet and recognize, if there is a Creator, He or She doesn't need or WANT our money, doesn't need or want our kneeling worship in multimillion dollar churches and cathedrals.. You would think now, in the 21st century, people would understand this and, yet, we STILL build these stupid, useless buildings instead of using the millions they cost to benefit people in this world who have nothing!

If you want to pray to God, do what I do, close your eyes and say what you want to say.. I don't need some outrageously expensive building to do this in nor do I need some silly little men or women in robes and habits to do anything for me.. Really, I can do my own worshiping without anyone else's help and in no way, shape or form will I ever go out and MURDER another person because some religion or book tells me I have to!

I would love nothing more then to see religion, as it is today, abolished completely! Let people do their worshiping inside the privacy of their home and leave the politicking of the different religions in the garbage where it belongs!

anyone know if they will be flying in little boys for the pre and post election parties...or will they only be using the locals???

Spatman

Zandog. My grandmother left Poland at the age of 13. By herself.

Keyword Poland!!!! This is nazi Germany were talkin' about join or die!

Get real man!!!

pope, cardinals, bishops, priests change the rules to suit themselves whenever they want. It's the rest of us that are expected to follow every silly little rule to the letter. Especially women, for whom those rules are oppressive and designed to keep us from having any equality at all, much less power in the rcc.

bishopaccountability.org "survivor's accounts"

I hope you work (Shiloh) till you are 85 and people say the same about you. He had an accident earlier and hurt himself. At least he is not like some people in power that just won't let go ( some of our Congress people), that also includes some of the people in sports.

Another ignorant statement. His changing of when the conclave begins doesn't change the date of his retirement.

This changes he made doesn't hasten his leaving. Do some reading.

Pope's normally die in office. There hasn't been a "retirement" in 700 years. Keep making excuses for the devil incarnate.

There are none so blind as those that will not see.

Shiloh,

His permanent home will be in the Vatican after his new and much smaller quarters are being renovated. Until that job is completed, he will be at the Pope's summer home, Castle Gondolfo.

What are you hinting at?

Debi-1314897, if he were the anti christ he would probably stay in office so he could lead more catholics astray.

Use some logic you stupid ignorant troll.

Normally I don't wish evil or ill on people but that Tamara has got to go. and people like her that think they can dominate the social media with their decrepit advertisements. I come here to read decrepitopinions not advertisements. Tamara is worse than a freeloading socialist liberal commie, or just as bad anyway, Tamara set up your own web page and get out of here this is not your free ride.

Debi-1314897, if he were the anti christ he would probably stay in office so he could lead more catholics astray.

Don't kid yourself, Zandog. If he stayed in office, he risked being arrested and imprisoned, which any anti christ worth his weight in salt would do anything to avoid.

Debi-1314897

If he stayed in office, he risked being arrested and imprisoned

By who? He's a sovereign head of state. By retiring, he won't be.

If you're not a troll, let it be known what your religion is. Does it preach that the Pope is an antichrist?

Don't kid yourself, Zandog. If he stayed in office, he risked being arrested and imprisoned, which any anti christ worth his weight in salt would do anything to avoid

Nooo don't kid yourself, deborah. They would never arrest their own pope. The antichrist loves decieving people and if he's worth his weight in salt he would love the influence the pope has. You are a mere tool of his deceptive plan you foolish woman!

The pope is nothing christlike; in fact, if Jesus came back today, he wouldn't even recognize him, nor the religion, the church, the costumes, the money and greed nor the harming of children.

Who's really fooling whom?

I agree, Jesus would be disgusted with the sickos within the church but He would still recognize the true catholics in His church and those who follow His religion. Also I'm sure the Pope is Christ-like because you don't become the rock of Christ for no reason and he is certainly no antichrist(his actions of late especially prove that).

I think you are fooling yourself Debi. But remember this, It is never to late to return back to God your Father. He loves no matter what.

Zandog:

Continuing an argument with a fool, would only make two.

So long and hope you find that imagined heaven.

Agreed.

Hope you find God

Hope you find God

If he truly exists, he'll find me, and it won't be through the claims of writing a book (bible) or whispering in somebody else's ears or dreams.

Debi I don't expect you to believe this but it may be an interesting read for you. If the link doesn't work just copy it into your adress bar. Also I am sorry for calling you those rude names I lost my temper lol.

http:// fatima.ageofmary.com/hell/letter-from-beyond/

http:// fatima.ageofmary.com/hell/letter-from-beyond/

Zandog:

Apology accepted. I hold no ill will towards you or your beliefs. People who believe in a god or some higher supernatural power actually have hope that there is something better once they are free of this tumultuous world, and that's not a bad thing. What angers me is to witness the cruelty perpetrated by those who use and take advantage of the vulnerable believers for their own gain of power and money; i.e., the RCC.

Thanks for the links, but I was born into a Greek catholic family of which two of my great grandfathers were priests and attended catholic school. I am very familiar with Our Lady of Fatima and do not believe the Vatican was honest about what the letters contained. If the one letter truly dealt with the assassination attempt on the pope, why did they wait so many years and after the attempt, to reveal its contents? It doesn't make sense and I believe it was the churches attempt to connect the pope to Our Lady of Fatima:

"The Vatican withheld the Third Secret until 26 June 2000, despite Lúcia's declaration that it could be released to the public after 1960. Some sources, including Canon Barthas and Cardinal Ottaviani, said that Lúcia insisted to them it must be released by 1960, saying that, "by that time, it will be more clearly understood", and, "because the Blessed Virgin wishes it so." When 1960 arrived, rather than releasing the Third Secret, the Vatican published an official press release stating that it was "most probable the Secret would remain, forever, under absolute seal." After this announcement, immense speculation over the content of the secret materialized. According to the New York Times, speculation over the content of the secret ranged from "worldwide nuclear annihilation to deep rifts in the Roman Catholic Church that lead to rival papacies."

Do I believe the three children witnessed a sighting, spoke telepathically to the entity and were given messages? Yes, but just as some undiscovered tribe in the Amazon witnessing a white man flying in a helicopter and landing for the first time would consider him a god, it's very possible what the children in Fatima witnessed was not supernatural, but merely otherworldly. We would have to be very arrogant to think we are the only ones existing in this vast universe and have not been already visited.

Debi,

Your very welcome! I can see where your coming from, I too always wondered if other civilizations were created somewhere in the universe but it always hurts my head to think about it lol. I won't dismiss your opinions though and I completely agree that some parts of the vatican need a thorough cleaning. God will judge all in the second coming though, which I get the vibes isn't to far off. I hope we're all prepared for it when it happens. Again though, I'm sorry for being rude and I hope you and your family have a great week!

Same to you, Zandog.

What?

john algarme don't think too hard, you might hurt yourself.

What did the big guy give you how low does your chain hang, how many rings do you wear little rodzzz?

And funny, isn't it, how the popes can change some rules/traditions, but anything that has to do with women is "beyond their control."

Jessica this is a a great observation. Jesus was about change in the old way of doing things within Jewish Law. Jesus was, according to the old testament the fullfillment of the old law with his coming as "Messiah." Even our calendar year is based on his birth year. Yet look what happened to Jesus, he was put to death on the cross for his radical ideas. Two politics were involved in his crucifixion, that of the state and that of his own religion Judaism. Actually the state "Pontius Pilate" could not find a reason to crucify him and turned the case over to the public (Jewish state) who chose Barabas to free and Jesus to crucify. This is why for many years there was so much hatred of the Jews by Christianity as the Sanhedrin (like college of cardinal) and Chief priest Caiphus (like the Pope) because it was felt they were responsible for the indictment and crucifixion of Jesus.

So you see Jessica, we are stupid humans. We all tend to go back to our sinful ways of power and corruption. The Catholic Church today although different in its teachings than the Jewish religion shows the same dynamics at work in the 21st century as there was in the 1st. Therefore, there is no human man alive today willing to "rock" the boat and make the changes so necessary in the Catholic Church in the 21st century. Even Peter, denied Jesus 3 times when he felt his life could be at stake when questioned if he were a apostle of the radical Jesus.

I had been a practicing Catholic for 50+ years, however over the past 4 years, I have fallen away from the churches teachings. I am sad and lost. It is unbelievable how much harm has been done by those who were preaching but in effect not practicing the faith. To whom much is given, much will be expected. The current College of Cardinals need to reflect on that when considering the next pope. As a Christian, I do hope that they will be inspired by The Holy Spirit to choose someone who is not afraid to walk in the shoes of Jesus Christ. Jesus talked about keeping some Jewish law, but he also talked about establishing new laws that break with tradition, like, taking an animal out of a well on the Sabbath, or not being so obsessive about koshering everything you eat. He said that it is more important to do the right thing (take the suffering animal out of the well) and said that it is not so much a man is corrupt from what he eats, but from what is in his heart and what comes out of him.

It is time the Catholic Church changes it's laws and allows priests to marry. They would be better priests. This is a law laid down by the Pope not Jesus. I feel it was made a law to control land holdings and wealth. It is time that women were allowed to be priests. The church says no to women as priests because they claim, Jesus did not have women apostles. Jesus did have women who were his followers, but in the male dominated society of the time, men would have more of a chance to move freely within the society to spread the gospel. As it was, most of the apostles were martyred eventually. Women would have had less of a chance.

Jesus is alive in the world today in the form of "the Holy Spirit." As I write this, my prayer is that he will somehow give us a new Pope who would rather walk in the spirit of His law which is wisdom, love and compassion instead of red Prada shoes! Amen.

People think to much and believe to easy what they can see have some faith for god sakes. Take Christianity for what it is, a guide, please stop acting as though its irrelevant. Christianity hasnt hurt anyone, people hurt people, humans are not perfect stop pretending everything should be perfect within Catholicism .

Are you threatening NBC? Have you threatened to walk away from a pedophile-cover up organization yet? What would it take? Priests boiling and eating babies? Would that do it?

Do you know what the Dunning Kruger effect is?

@Atheist

I notice you post a lot of anti-Catholic feelings. It is unfortunate that you know so little about the Catholic faith. I would like to ask you a question though. What does an atheist believe happens to them after they die? I am serious. I don't know any atheists, and I have always been curious as to what their belief system is regarding this matter. Thanks.

Atheist, it appears your religion is hate. What I don't understand is if you do not believe why your obsession? If you think you are appearing superior, guess again. Over a billion Catholics are prying for your pitiful sole.

You didn't nor do your children have any chance of being molested by a priest. Further, on the child molestation issue, children are much more like to be molested by a relative or a friend. I also remember back in the 80's that hysteria broke out about day care centers. Seemed that once they accused one, everyone looking for a quick buck accused them. I'll bet many of these accusations are just that, gold digging.

Well, I can't speak for any Atheist other than myself. When you die, you die. It's over, just like any other thing that dies. I think it's only human ego that thinks we are worth more and deserve more than any other form of life that exists or ever existed. Since, I think, there is no afterlife the point is to live in the moment, make our existence as perfect as we can for ourselves and everyone around us. Do no harm, give spontaneous acts of goodness and beauty and in the end we will complete the cycle of life and death like every other living thing on this planet.

If finding the cover-up of child rape is anti-Catholic, then I am proud to wear that badge.

Nominal Catholics seem unwilling to wear that badge. A child with stolen innocence would appreciate it if you wore that badge rather than defend a criminal organization by your continued donations.

I think someone should invent a lapel ribbon that says I left the Catholic Church because I had to say NO to covering up rape on a global level. As a matter of fact, I am going to make one and wear it today. When people ask me, I will tell them why.

Who's in?

DockPete, I don't have beliefs. I have reasonable expectations based on prior evidence.

Atheism says nothing about what happens when you die. Atheism has a VERY short definition. It means the lack of belief in gods.

It's up to each atheist to form their views about other things. The only thing that I know I have in common with another atheist is our shared lack of belief.

Understand?

I see your point Atheist and understand where you are coming from , may I add something? the people committing these crimes are not true to the faith and are in the service of the church under false pretences, its more like the bad element chooses the church as a place to hide and pray on its victims and as far as the leaders of the church goes in my opinion they should come down very hard on these deviates that are hiding among them. as for you why are you in this forum, don't you feel a little out of place, kind of like a priest at a Muslim call to prayer, don't tell me you are working to change peoples beliefs because that would make you a hypocrite and a supporter of a anti religious religion. am I to assume that you are here to spread the word that there is no word to spread, that is some sort of a waste of time is it not? or at least counter productive! in essence you are saying that you have nothing to say, but you feel the need to share your opinion/ beliefs as you see them while telling others that they are fools to believe in anything. are you a liberal by any chance? now do you believe that space is empty or full? do you believe that there are multiple dimensions or only 4, is life all in your imagination or is it real, how many colors really exist is there a opposite spectrum, are there colors that you can not see, what is on the other side of a black hole and what is your opinion on the string theory, last but not least why cant there be a God. can you define energy? if 3 dimensions do not exist in a 2 dimensional setting then you living in a two dimensional setting would not be aware of a third dimension, so then you would not be aware of any other dimensions beyond that, is time relevant. the list goes on and on, all I can say is to not believe is the real definition of stupid, there is no end to the possibilities the universe has to offer one thing is certain man is one of the newest additions to it so we cant possibly be the most advanced can we, mayby you think you are but I'm pretty shure we are not.

D Buck,

I don't care if they are "TRUE" Christians or not. They are TRUE criminals who are essentailly being protected by the undeserved collateral that religious faith banks from otherwise well intentioned people in society.

Atheist,

Atheist,

Okay then what is your belief system?

What is "prior evidence"? Evidence of what?

What is your proof that the Catholic Church is a "criminal organization"?

Is every Priest, Deacon, Bishop, Cardinal, and even the Pope a criminal? Where are your facts to back up your statements?

What is a religious faith bank?

Who are the "well intentioned"?

What really is your belief system? I really want to know. Do you just die and become worm food?

He has the full authority to do it. What's the story here?

He also has the full authority to discipline or bring the pedophile priests to local law enforcement, yet he does not.

Care to comment on that?

Continue on this path NBC and watch your Ad revenues shrink, and your relevance to journalism become even more insignificant.

Will never happen with people like you clacking away on your keyboards daily on this site about how much you hate it. They thank you for the click thru traffic. You're helping pay the bills for them.

If you really want to show them, never post on this site or click any links ever again.

Pete, you're really not very good at this are you?

I don't have a "belief system". What part of that don't you understand? For instance, evolution explains where I came from (sex between ancestors) and physics explains where I'm going (decay). Heck, someday my atoms may be jettisoned out of our galaxy when the Milky Way collides with the Andromeda galaxy in the not so far future cosmologically speaking. These are sound scientific truths.

I don't accept these things (evolution, physics) on belief, I can fact check them today. I can't fact check the more advanced physics without taking certain classes, but evolution is a very easy biological principle to understand. Your insistence that I have a belief system is very much like a trick alcoholics use. Let me explain. An alcoholic will convince herself that she can have one drink because everyone else is drinking. In other words, part of being normal (her normal) is drinking. But obviously not everyone drinks. The alcoholic transplanted to an alcohol free environment goes through withdrawals and has a terrible time.

You are a belief-a-holic. You think everyone has beliefs (have you looked that word up in a dictionary?) No Pete, not everyone has beliefs.

As I said, I have reasonable expecations based on prior evidence. If you have evidence for your beliefs, let me know and I'll gladly accept them. But you don't have evidence Pete, and you know that. You're probably scratching your head right now thinking to yourself, "but I just KNOW this stuff to be true." Well that's called a belief Pete, and I don't share it. I am the teetotaler of beliefs. Understand now?

I don't accept things are factual simply because they are only based on tradition, revelation, authority. I don't have a creed.

If you feel you must peg me into a hole I suppose you could describe me as someone who looks at the world through the eyes of scientific naturalism. I can't think of a more beautiful way for me to live. I am very fortunate to have been able to shed the addiction that is faith. Very fortunate indeed.

Daaaayum! atheist got owned by Dbuck! Right on brother!

What is your real reason for wanting to see the RCC destroyed? How does this effect you personally?

Dockpete don't mind him. He's just a hate spewing, hypocritical, bigot.

Tired-of-it: What's a "Prev(s)?"

It's called a typo juanita.

I am pretty sure you knew they meant Pervs.

@tired of it.

Back your opinion with facts. What are pervs and thieves? What are your facts. Please enlighten us with the truth.

"Coward"? What do you base this on? Please back up your statements so we can know the truth of which you speak.

Are you qualified to be Pope? How many kids have you rogered, how many people have you swindled and how many dictators have you endorsed?

Catholics have standards and traditions that must be followed.

Point please? Back it with truths.

Changing for modern times means no longer practicing pedophillia in the church. It has been with the church since its inception. It is time Catholics stand up to these tyrants and say this is not a Christian thing to do. Demand answers as to why these crimes have been covered up for centuries. A religion that sits back and allows children to be molested because that is the way things have always happened is not a religion I want to belong to.

phoebs,

Do you believe that the Church teaches pedophilia?

Your mistaking it for the Greek orthodox church. back door club.

the bible written thousands of years ago in both Daniel and Revelations revealed this present day situation and goes on to say that the church will become corrupt and Christan's will be persecuted, and all the while it speaks of the seven hills and the beast with seven heads all referring to Rome so all I can say is prophecy is still being fulfilled so we are at the end of times as we know it, personally I think that that would be a bad time to lose the faith don't you? you get mad at a priest or a pope so you take it out on God? well I guess that will make everything right, you are aware that it is man that will be the cause of destruction and it will be God that will intervene at the last moment and after great suffering, death and disaster, prove to man how disgusting he really is, and how much man needs a helping hand, that's what its all about. so don't worry about the church worry about yourself and your personal connection to God as you know him. the church has its problems, don't fall down with it.

D Buck Amen to that!

Don't forget TOM there are children in the RCC. Are you suggesting that they be screwed too? I thought that was what a lot of these morons were always complaining about. Other religions have the same problem, but the catholic religion takes the most hits, they are just more visible.

Tom, Tsk.

All religions are cults. Every one. Christianity is the cult of Jesus Christ.

A cult is a group or religion that denies Jesus is the Christ. Christianity is a personal relationship with the risen savior.

You make some huge assumptions Crazeecat. You'll find that most of us want to shake hands and exchange a greeting of peace. Don't assume that everyone agrees with you. Some of us actually do extend peace to our brothers and sisters in all sincerety. Bring hand sanitizer if you're that afraid of germs. geez.

You don;t have to drink or shake hands, that is your choice.

crazee,

The Catholic Church helps more people than any other organization in the world.

Crazee,

I won't comment on your spelling or grammar, it speaks for itself.

However, it seems you have been away from the Faith for some time. Really, what is your real issue? It certainly cannot be the reception of the Eucharist in both forms, or the sign of peace. You, like so many others on this "vine" sound like petulant former Catholics. Don't you realize that when Christ said, "you are Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it", He was not talking about the structures, or functionaries in Rome, but was talking about the faith in the Resurrection?

Some Catholic churches have adressed all of the problems you stated above specifically for the flu season! Seriously quit complaining about such petty things.

P.S. your a jerk if you don't want to make signs of peace with others.

Some days, I'm ashamed you are Italian too! (sorry...just kidding)

Tyran,

Why? This Pope is a German.

They just want us to fight, @!$%#ing bastards need to wake up before their master takes away their gold chains and rings ;-)

Hey Jim, Please read my post. I am having problems with the faith I was raised and faithfully followed for 50+ years. I feel lost as my conscience is telling me I can no longer support an organization that pontificates but does not practice what it preaches. Had 8+ years of a private Catholic School education and feel I really understand my religion. I love Jesus. I follow Jesus. I am having a difficult time now because I cannot follow the Pope in the tradition of the church which says he follows in the footsteps of Peter.

The RCC today is much like the Jewish Faith of Jesus's faith, so steeped in law's and tradition, with people at it's head who are too politically oriented to want to "rock the boat" to break with tradition. So here we are in the 21st century with an organization that is a result of man's need to create a hierarchy of power and position. This is the very thing Jesus came to do, to free us from the tyranny of old law's that make no sense and to focus on the most important law which is love God and love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus did not say to totally break away from all old testament law, but he wanted to change the "sight" and focus of the law to what is most important and make sense for living a good and "holy" life. Loving God and your neighbor as yourself is not as easy as it sounds. This is the great commandment. If you follow it and have a healthy love of yourself, you will certainly not do anything corrupt to your neighbor. All ten commandments fit nicely into this simple truth.

Seems that those who are the heads of our RCC faith have greatly distorted the simple truth and have much to account for. They have abused not only the bodies of the faithful but the power of leadership passed down to them from Peter through Jesus. This is a great sin. I forgive them for you see I too am a stupid human being. However, this does not give me reason to blindly follow a faith who has eyes and yet cannot see. That is what Jesus said about people in his day. So, I rely on Jesus through the power of His most Holy Spirit that he will not abandon those who believe in him. So, I follow Jesus, The Way, The Truth and the Light. Pray for me Jim, lest I loose heart.

Inverway,

I understand how you feel. However, you need to look back to what Christianity is really about. This whole argument about the Church and BXVI is not about the revelation of Christ in the New Testament. This is about the evil that is in our presence, and yes. within the Church. The Catholic faith is not about the edifices that were built, or the bureaucracy that exists. You only need to look at the OT and the Gospels and Pauline letters to know what the message of the Redeemer is about.

Have faith. Read what is out there. I recommend George Weigel, Fulton Sheen, Moynihan, and any of the Church Fathers (Augustine, Jerome, Irenaeus, and others). Get a true sense as to what is going on in the Church. The postings you are reading have no basis in fact.

There is scandal everywhere. Look at how our government is bought and paid for by the military- industrial complex. Why should there not be corruption in the Vatican? Because we hold them to a "higher" standard? Yes, we should, but they have failed. BJPII & BXVI saw, and see this. They are looking for a strong leader to right the ship. It may or may not happen, but Christian, Jew, Muslim, and yes, atheist, should be hoping and praying that it does happen. If we forsake God in all of this scandal, then we will be playing into the hands of the evil one.

You comment is incoherent.

nodak,

How many would that be?

Just like that ALL STATE commercial you can not put anything on the internet uless it is true. LOL at all the people who really believe that.

The quick exit by the pope is a case of CYA. He doesn't care about anyone but himself or he would have done something to bring the pedophiles in his organization to justice instead of protecting them. Ratzinger wants out of town before the stuff hits the fans.

The Pope only wants to save his own keister and attempt to keep the 8th century organization relevant because if he wanted to do otherwise he would have used his authority as the Pope to make those changes.

It is amusing that the RCC teaches that tradition has a purpose and it must be adhered to, except when doing otherwise suits the church hierarchy.

Ratzinger was NEVER A Hitler youth, you liar! He was drafted into the German military and deserted. That is exactly the opposite of what you claim. What a liar you are.

This just goes to show, people hate God and will make up any lie they can. Well God does not listen to sinners and people to hate God are hated by God.

Aslo Ratzinger NEVER headed the Catholic Church. As Pope he is the chief administrator, president of the College of Bishops and successor to Peter.

Jesus Christ is the head of the Catholic Church.

Get some education.

Our GOD does not hate anyone even the ones who condemed him and make him out to look like a fool. The only one that will get you in a lot of trouble is the HOLY SPIRIT. Watch what you say about him.

I have a feeling that both Gary and Marky Mark are getting money skimmed from Catholic Charities to pay them for their laughable PR work.

Guys,

Despite what you have been brainwashed to belive there is no god because man wrote the Bible, unless you can prove that your sky fairy ever fact-checked the supposed inspirations. Did anyone ever bother to tell you that the 4 Gospels were not written by the people that they are attributed to and nobody in the Bible ever met Jesus. Paul was a wandering lunatic and probably suffered from schitzophrenia.

@Snoop Marky Mark

Ratzinger wrote in his own autobiography that he was indeed a Hitler Youth. After he was elected Pope, the Vatican denied it, but it is written there in Ratzinger's own words.

??? where do you get your conclusion? Over 1 Billion catholics and your think the cult is going away. The cult as you put it will continue long after your are dust and worm-food.

Care to make a bet on it? Huh? How about $1,000,000?

I don't hear you taking my wager?

Snoop.

Do you actually have 1,000,000? Or is this more of the religious BS that says "have faith, I am what I say I am!"

athiests are truly the saddest form people. They look for any oppurtinity to slander the church like rabid animals. If the catholic church found a cure for cancer they would still find a way to spew their vile hate.

Snoop-

I've come to the conclusion that the Pope does not have the power he once had. It is and has been the Vatican itself. And I'm pretty they have already chosen the next Pope, it's just all formalities now.

Although I could be wrong.

He just did, get some education.

As usual, as a "true believer" you missed the point entirely.

In what way do you think the church should change to join the current century? The current century seems pretty filthy and corrupt, if you ask me. The church surely needs to clean house, as the American seminary is filthy with pedophiles, but we should not throw out the baby with the bathwater. The church has an obligation first and foremost to follow the teachings of Christ. If you look to the orders of women religious in this country (and worldwide) you will find that they do this.

He is the Pope. He makes the rules.

Why do we need some man to tell us what the rules are? Aren't all the rules we need to follow in the Bible? I'm sorry, I just never understood the need for the complex hierarchy in Catholicism...