It is like a typical corporation. They have to have a meeting in order to set a date for the meeting. Since they have to have all voting cardinals in house for the meeting to set the date for the conclave, well......

Since all the Cardinals are aged, would one assume that some are dementia addled or afflicted with Alzheimers and as such would they continue to have voting power or does the conclave decide who's mentally capable of voting. So many questions....useless I know.

Lynn3765, a "liberal corporation?" I didn't think such a thing existed.

Do you have better model that we could admire?

This is no different than the Cosa Nostra electing a new godfather. And no less unholy. This is a farce. Why is this bunch of hypocritical transvestites still allowed to operate. They should all be arrested.

All I have to say is: two-thirds majority required for approval of a new pope. This could go on forever.

It's amazing to me that anyone looking in from the outside at the church takes them seriously. In this day and age it's common sense to the average 12 yr old that *magic* simply isn't real. There is always a trick to the illusion.

The amount of brow beating brain washing techniques to get a child to become indoctrinated with this religion is insane.

Only Cardinals under age 80 can vote. Presumably, this keeps out the ones who are 'dementia addled or afflicted with Alzheimers'.

"Ok, so what about June 1st?"

"No, no. I have to attend a 'boys' camp."

"Yeah, I have a 'boys' swimming class I have to teach."

"Ok, what about June 7th?"

"I can't. I have some really cute alter boys I need to train."

"Me too. and mine are going to sleep over too."

"Oh wow. Can I get in on some of that action?"

"Hell Yeah. Bring it on big boy."

Ok, ok..enough with the hook ups. We need to settle on a date."

i like poke salad....not pope salad...

"Sixteen cardinals spoke, some of them about what attributes the next pontiff should have."

The recognition that this the 21st century, not the 15th, would be a good start.

Cappy...I said typical corporation..not liberal corporation. Not sure where you saw "liberal" as it is a well known joke that the most time wasted inside any business is in meetings that are useless or are geared to try and determine the time and location for the next meeting.

Talk about a room full of sickos...this would be it. Wonder how many altarboys they took with them on the trip?

Could you point to something in the secular world that is not sick!

Blackbird

Since all the Cardinals are aged, would one assume that some are dementia addled or afflicted with Alzheimers and as such would they continue to have voting power or does the conclave decide who's mentally capable...

Never mind that they are wearing black dresses with matching accessories - and they are supposedly celibate middle-age to old men - and serve an invisible God/Son team in heaven. The real question should be: Are ANY of them really mentally capable at all?

freedom1st asks, "can you point to something in the secular world that is not sick!"

Yeah, my friends and family, my dog. We don't rape babies nor cover up crime. We are good people. What a concept, eh?

But I get it, for people of your faith, in order to feel normal, you have to think everyone else is sick too. Kind of like the trick alcoholics pull on themselves "oh EVERYONE drinks, so my drinking is normal."

Pathetic.

I can point to 3,763 pedophile priests just in the United States. Go to bishops accountability and look at their database of priests. 3,763 perverts, well most cause maybe one or two were found innocent. So many of them convicted for raping and abusing children. Thousands of children raped by these highly moral leaders of the world eh? Oh and 3/4ths of the current Cardinals in the United States became Cardinals because while they were Bishops they showed the Vatican how good they were by their cover ups, payola and hiding these pedophile rapists.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the High Pedophile Class Clown, so dismayed and so betrayed when New York passed the same sex marriage law, crying how the citizens of New York and the legislature disobeyed a basic tennant of the Unholy Roman Catholic Church of Pedophile Pimps, Priests and the Parishioners who cheer, love, adore, worship, defend and protect them. That gays and lesbians are evil and worthy of disgust and death. The one and the same Cardinal Timothy Dolan who when he found out New York was going to end the one year statue of limitations on child rape, he protested by spewing from his outhouse piehole:

Dolan also explained that he wanted to keep the statute of limitations for child sex abuse victims to one-year, because if the church gets sued, "The perpetrators don’t suffer. There’s no burden on them. What suffers are the services and the ministries of the apostolates that we’re doing now. Because where does the money come from? So the bishops of 30 years ago that allegedly may have reassigned abusers, they don’t suffer. They’re dead. So the people that suffer are those who are being served right now by the church. We feel that’s a terribly unjust burden."

Oh yeah, such suffering, such terrible unjust burdens eh Dolan? Would that come if they did end the statue of limitations for pedophile pimps like you, then you would be thrown into prison to be a soap on a rope dope in the showers? Is that the unjust burden Dolan, that you might be raped in prison and do not want to experience what us survivors of priest rape have gone through first hand?

Oh hey, your Head Pedophile Pimp Pope Benedict XVI showed his true colors when he went to Uganda and blessed Rebecca Kadga, the Speaker of the Parliment, who promised her Ugandan Catholic Christians that for a Christmas present she would make sure the Kill the Gays bill would be passed.

Yeah, the Unholy Roman Catholic Church, covered in the stains of innocent blood from the millions they butchered and slaughtered and tortured and covered in the semen of the rape of thousands of children.

Yeah Dolan, "where does the money come from"? I worked for a law firm defending the RCC against molestation charges. Who was paying our bills? Their insurance company. Who was paying out the settlements? Their insurance company. These perverts have insurance to cover the malfeasance of their "employees." Will their premiums go up? Probably, just like your auto insurance goes up when you're at fault. Too bad. The hypocrisy and speaking out of both sides of their mouths of these church "leaders" makes my stomach curdle. Oh and of course, they never actually went to trial, they just settled for lots of money. Too bad they were all civil cases, they should have been criminal.

We definitely need Congress to pass a Freedom From Religion Act. American citizens have the right to go about their lives peacefully without having some religion forced on them by public preachings in town squares, parks, on public networks, billboards, transportation etc. or have any religion involved with the making of laws or denying any citizen equal rights, opportunities, or equal status. Freedom of Religion was not added to the Constitution to give a carte blanche to worshippers to do anything they wanted in the name of their god. The framers of the Constitution had no intention of doing such, especially being aware of all the atrocities committed in Europe in the name of religion. However when it came to signing the Constitution the way it was, all the colonies(prospective states) did so with the exception of Rhode Isalnd. By the time the Constitutional Convention got under way the colony of Rhode Island was divided among so many different Christian sects, that they stopped counting them. These sects were continually fighting one another and violence was beginning to escalate. Christians were afraid that this group or that one might take over, so they forbade their delegates to the Convention from signing the Constitution until Freedom Of Religion was added. It was added as a regulatory measure to make sure one religion or sect would not dominate, to protect Christians from one another!

Uh...actually the "church" is a disgrace to the church.

I'm with you Jerry - first, Mahoney won't say anything but shuffles the bad acts around. Now when they are supposed to be sequestered, he's singing like a bird. Go figure.

He should have finally acted with some honor and excused himself from the voting.

Jerry, actually a disgrace ANYWHERE. But, yeah...he represented the "teachings of Christ"...right? I'm amazed he still has a vote but the worse part is...why am I not surprised. It's just politics folks.

A reliable source tells me Mahony will try to repent by urging the election of Sinead O'Connor as the next pope.

allens,

What disgusts me is the focus on Mahony's VOTE instead of his opportunity at a promotion! A violent criminal being allowed at a crack for the TOP JOB in his profession. Yes, a violent criminal. His crimes weren't victimless.

The whole thing is beyond even what Orwell could have created. The next Catholic I come across is going to get an earful from me. Shame. We must be the voice for the children who were violated.

For somebody who believes in nothing you sure seem concerned about Catholicism.Your extreme animus towards the church makes me wonder why you troll every news story concerning it.You're delusional concept of the church is so far out in left field that no one responds to your ramblings(even though you keep trying to get attention like a spoiled 2 year old).But yet you feel compelled to post again and again as if someone might be swayed by the sheer volume of posts.Some actual substance to your posts could be a start but that's obviously not your style.Name calling and outlandish speculation only goes so far.Why not let some adults have a conversation without interrupting heh?

verona,

Catholicism is the second most evil faith and a global phenomenon that demands the attention and alarm of moral people. Of course I'm going to comment on it when it's in the news.

If you have an issue with a specific claim I've made, feel free to debate it. What is outlandish about saying it's disgusting that a rape protector and coverup artist has a chance at the top job in his profession?

Why are Catholics so silent on this issue? They remind me of the silence of so-called moderate Muslims surrounding 9/11. With so many (supposedly) Catholics in the world, where is the outrage at their Church? Why are they staying? Why are they defending this filth on boards like these? Have you ever persuded 100% Catholic websites? Catholics are twisting their brains every which way to defend these monsters.

athiest agenda is just that , he trolls every story about the catholic church and spreads his lies and false information

apostle, Agenda? When have I ever said convert to atheism? You won't find that in any of my posts in any forum let alone here. I may favor critical thinking or empathy or freethinking but I was once a person of faith myself and would never tell a person to convert because of what I say.

But anyway, what lies are you talking about? Child rape protectors? Where are these lies of mine? Hmmmmm?

you try to strengthen your position by attacking the church, because your not sure your right but if you can make religion wrong then you feel better. the lies are the fact ppl try to convict without real evidence, believe me i want these criminals punished as bad as anybody but not at the expense of putting one innocent man in jail

if there was evidence enough to convict someone in a court of law dont you think the police would arrest someone? reguardless of how bad a bishop tried to hide him, the rcc is not immune to the law.

the bishop is also faced with the same dilemma as we are. if the law cant convict someone for lack of evidence then how far should he go to punish them?

in some cases punishment was given either isolation, defrocking or if just accusations that may be questionable simply moving to another parish. the church even compensated ppl financially even when the courts wouldnt do anything

apostle of truth(?),

I'm with atheist in his commentary. Most religions or should I say all religions aren't fit for human consumption. If you're defending religion, catholic or other wise, I would suggest you try an obective look at things. If there was no evidence in the pedophile scandals, why did it cost the archdiocese of LA alone over 600 million dollars. It would have been far cheaper to fight the accusations. Quite frankly I have some problems with your "truth". What is the truth? Many of your traditions are so full of pagan DNA, what actually belongs to the church? Why is it that Easter is a "floating holiday" coming on a slightly different day each year? Is it because Easter falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox?

The Bible was written by those who lived in a world that thought the earth was flat. With the finding of the gnostic gospels at Nag Hamadi, new ideas were discovered only to be called heresy by the church. According to the Gospel of St. Thomas, if "The Kingdom of God is within you and all about you..." what need do we have of priests? Perhaps sell plenary indulgences?

Jesus said to Peter,"You are the rock upon which I will build my church". How convenient it was for the earlier College of Cardinals to elect Peter as the first "Pope" thus justifying anything the church said or did.

apostle..I don't agree with your thought process, but i like your spunk. Keep pushing like you have and you'll make a goo secular person some day.

So Apostle, what will you spew towards me? See in one night a sick, twisted, degenerate, perverted, scumbag priest from St Thomas More parish in Durham NH spent the night raping my body and destroying my mind, my soul and my heart. I spit in the face of your God and your Jesus Christ, for while that scum was raping me, I remember crying to both of those tooth fairies to make the priest stop and they did not answer me. So I came to the conclusion that your God and Jesus Christ just love the screams and cries of children as they are being raped by the priests cause they sure do not put a stop to it when the children cry out to them do they? So either your God and Jesus Christ are as fake as you are, or they are Pedophiles.

As for your church doing all it can for the victims, again, your full of horse dung.

Then again, I challenge you and any of you pukes who defend the Unholy Roman Catholic Church of Pedophile Pimps, Priests and the Parishioners who cheer, love, support and defend them. I challenge you to go to bishops accountability website. Read the police reports, the reports then look at the Database. Just in the United States, 3,763 priests, nuns, sisters, brothers and fathers of religious organizations like the Jesuits. Many of them convicted for raping children. Many who could not be convicted was because the statue of limitations ran out. Or sued, so many sued. Thousands of child victims.

So go ahead and stand up for this church of evil. You too will be burning in hell right besides them,

You're delusional concept of the church is so far out in left field

Since you believe that a cosmic Jewish Zombie who was his own father can make you live forever if you eat his flesh, drink his blood and telepathically tell him you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because a rib-woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree- maybe you shouldn't call others delusional.

veronafoamer (11.2), just because someone does not believe in a superstition (aka god) does not mean he believes in NOTHING.

Pull your head out.

why don't you try one?

So beautifully wretched for you to demonstrate what far too many Catholics obviously believe: pedophilia is tiresome for you. How long did that last? Wow.

Is the empathy section of your brain broken? Congratulations, you are one of the few I shall now place on ignore.

Yeah, pedophilia is so yesterday. Pal, it's been going on for hundreds of years with the Church mearly removing the perp from the neighborhood. If you find a poisonous snake do you kill it, or toss it into a neighbors yard. Catholic higher ups tossed it into the next door neighbors yard and didn't bother to tell him he has a snake in his yard that bites kids!

Observing--banalities about pedophiles etc. Ask one of the victims of a pedophile priest about b-anal-ities!

Perhaps if the church got ride of its "trash", there wouldn't be trash talkers to talk about trash.

Observing2 a victim of priest rape, I would love to see you endure what I have gone through. I would love for you to endure being a runaway and being brought to St Thomas More parish in Durham NH for one night of supposed safe keeping. I want you to experience that as soon as the police officer dropped me off, being brought to the priests bedroom. Being told you broke one of the Ten Commandments, of honoring your mother and father, and that I would burn in hell if I did not do as he said. He then proceeded to suck me off, to take the evil from me. He then forced me to suck him off, to "swallow his sacred sacrament". Then I want him to rape you anally, forcing you to say the Our Father and the Hail Mary while he tells you that if you tell anyone about his special healing you will burn in hell for all eternity.

I want you to experience my nightmares. I want you to endure incredibly lucid nightmares like I have, of being gang raped in hell, by priests, Popes etc. I want you to endure every excruciating painful moment. I want you to experience the priest, who is now a demon, walks over, rips off your junk and eats it.

I want you to experience my neverending hatred of God and Jesus Christ. I want you to experience that while the priest was raping you, you cried out to God and Jesus to make this priest stop, and they did not answer my cries or prayers. So I now equate Jesus and God with the Pedophiles, see to me, they love the screams of terror of us children as we are raped by their priests. Nothing will ever change my mind about this. For if God and Jesus truly hated those who harmed children, then they would have answered our cries and prayers for help, instead of ignoring them.

Then I want you to experience my pain and guilt. That I felt I was evil and I deserved what happened to me. That I was doomed, bound for hell for all eternity because I did in fact tell a high school friend of mine and right after that my evil nightmares of rape began.

I want you to sit there, thinking what is the use of living? I want you to wake up like I have, in the emergency room, having your stomach pumped out.

Then maybe after you experience all of this, come back and think that we victims do not suffer. Or that what I experienced and the tens of thousands of other children who were raped by your priests...are banality to us.

Yes I hope you get raped. So you can find out if it is a banality or not.

Frank, the church teaches that prayers are answered in one of three ways. Yes, no, maybe (conveniently covers all).

I guess your prayer's answer was "no."

Peace.

Ratzinger was the head "Mahony."

We hope & pray that they get it right, but at the end they are humans and that is the scary part.

Let's just hope that the new "voice of God" has a foot in the 21st and 1st century.

Sorry, "and NOT the 1st century"

David Fernandez wrote:

'People who are outside of the Roman Catholic Church, and those who are anti-Catholic, and some of the News Media, have absolutely no clue about the Church's meaning and significance to the world.'

I might know more about Catholicism than you do. I think. I was trained for priesthood at one stage. I lost my Catholic faith over my life journey and over a number of years while seeing more and more of the twisted logics of the so-called Omniscient, Omnipresent, Omnipotent and Benevolent God!

For a start, the four Gospels that you were indoctrinated to be God's words were humanly selected from MANY versions at Nicaea Council in 325. I give you a hint: all versions that did not accord Jesus deity status or automatically cement the authority of church leaders were rejected and burned.

Next, Eusebius who served as an ecclesiastical church historian and bishop. He had great influence in the early Church and he openly advocated the use of fraud and deception in furthering the interests of the Church [Remsberg]. The first mention of Jesus by Josephus came from Eusebius (none of the earlier church fathers mentioned about Josephus' Jesus). It comes to no surprise why many scholars think that Eusebius interpolated his writings. In his Ecclesiastical History, he writes, "We shall introduce into this history in general only those events which may be useful first to ourselves and afterwards to posterity." (Vol. 8, chapter 2). In his Praeparatio Evangelica, he includes a chapter titled, "How it may be Lawful and Fitting to use Falsehood as a Medicine, and for the Benefit of those who Want to be Deceived" (book 12, chapter 32).

Here's another. St. Ignatius Loyola of the 16th century even wrote: "We should always be disposed to believe that which appears to us to be white is really black, if the hierarchy of the church so decides."

However, at the simplest level that a layman can understand. Let's go through it, shall we?

The almighty God decided, one day, to create the universe. And later Adam and Eve in his image. And He was happy. That's my educated guess.

He let them live in Eden, allowed them freedom except eating fruit from an apple tree.

But they ate the forbidden apple so God expelled from Eden. Being omniscient, one would expect that God knew well before hand that they would disobey that restriction. He did not seem to care but punished them, He did.

Once outside Eden, only by having incestuous relationships such as Cain screwing his own mother that they could have multiplied. For who else was there to procreate, right?

And being humans, they committed more sins that God was so angry that He flooded the earth except the Noah family and all animals in pair. Come to think about this, Noah would have needed the equivalent tonnage of the whole Seven Fleet to house and feed all these animals for 40 days... Noah must have been a clever dick...He puts the US Navy to shame...

Anyway, being humans, they committed more sins along the way. What do you expect?

And 2000 years ago, God sent His own Son down to die in agonising death in order to atone for the sins of HIS OWN CREATIONS. Go figure.

Fast forward. That has not changed their behaviour one damn thing. And God knew about this too.

And believers believe that God will come down again, in glory, to judge the living and the death and His kingdom will have no end... What a load of croc's sh*t.

Seriously, why God could not simply behave like a reasonable being, by creating bee-like humanoids in Eden and programmed them so that His EGO could be nicely stroked in whatever way He felt needed. Why bother with so much sufferings on His creations throughout the ages? If you think He gives humans free will, well, what about the free will of hundreds of thousands of young and innocent children who suffered sexual abuses at the hand of his clergy in all parts of the world where there were people doing His work!

As for your 2000 year Church, I say this, prostitution also lasted more than 2000 years in human activities despite laws in many parts of the land banning it in one form or another. It follows that just because prostitution lasted more than 2000 years does not make it any less acceptable and invincible than your church itself, based o your logic. A least prostitution does not pretend its purposes when taking one's money. But your Church seems to with the way to salvation judging from sexual abuses by the clergy.

Time for you to take a cold shower. I do sincerely wish you a safe journey as a fellow traveller though.

But I do call your God no less a psychopath, a conman, a fraudster, a bastard and a being full of sh*t.

David...Mystical Body of Christ? You hit the problem headon. The key word being Mystical. Does that refer to mysticism? To have the faith of a child is dangerous especially with the history of the church down thru the ages. Starting wars, the Inquisition, roasting people alive, Pope Julius maintaining a standing army, offering the penality of death for any commoner found with a Bible, etc. I would think that a loving God and Jesus would have had a more peaceful history in mind. The Mystical Body of Christ is a fine idea, but imaginary. Cardinals and church leaders are nothing more than men with a tase for power.

Though on the church's behalf, I will admit the monks of early W Europe did have some fine recipes for beer.

Man invented beer LONG before he invented any gods.

Why yes but you forgot many fine things the Unholy Roman Catholic Church has also done to show it's love and compassion.

Millions of innocent men, women and children, tortured and butchered by Roman Catholics throughout it's history. Remember the Inquisitions? Remember the torture of Jews? Yeah, your history is full of death and slaughter.

Tens of thousands of children raped by your priests. Just in the United States alone, on Bishops Accountability, a site that is actually put out by the RCC under court order. The database shows 3,763 names of priests, brothers and fathers from orders, nuns and sisters, all credibly accused of child rape and abuse. Many of them convicted. Many of those who were not convicted was not because they were not guilty, it was because the statue of limitations had run out, which I might add, the Pedophile Pimps called the Cardinals and Bishops, fight this every chance they get. Many on the list sued, many settled. Realize these are just the names of the perverts in the United States, 3,763 names!!! The final estimate of priests etc who harmed children through out the world? Over 10,000!!!

More than half the Cardinals in the United States became Cardinals because while they were Bishops, they proved to the Vatican real well that they were experts in cover up and subterfuge.

So your Unholy Roman Catholic Church of Pedophile Pimps, Priests and the Parishioners who cheer, defend and support them listen the hell up.

You do not like us attacking your scum church, then do what is right. Demand the immediate resignation of all those involved and their prosecution. For in my eyes, and the eyes of a lot of other victims, you do not, then you are just as guilty as the ones who covered it up and the scum who raped us.

guess we'll have to get a new pizza???????????

Yes, and they need to stop raping children too. Jesus probably frowns on that a little bit as well!