Christians don't accept equating Christ with, say, Krishna or the like. There is much you might chose to learn about Christ and faiths built about Him. The new pope, like many before him, is just a man. Don't equate his persona or performance with the Roman Catholic Church. Do as much studying about Christianity and Catholicism as you have evidently done about these other faiths. Use material produced by Christians; other material might have been created to dissuade. Best of luck.

"The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings."

Cassius here is speaking about the stars as controllers of destiny, and expressing the idea that men themselves are responsible for their actions, not some preordained fate.

POPE SAYS, "DON'T DO AS I DO, DO AS I SAY!"

"Let us never give in to the pessimism, to that bitterness, that the devil places before us every day. Let us not give into pessimism and discouragement," he said, according to Reuters.

Yet, the Pope, as an Argentine bishop, was complicit when the Argentine military junta was kidnapping and killing priest, nuns, and pregnant mothers, killing them, and adopting the babies out to junta sympathizers. Something the Argentine bishops tried to apologize for later .

The Vatican says no credible accusation had ever stuck against the new pope.

As Jesus once said, "If the gloves don't fit, you must acquit.."...or maybe that wasn't Jesus after all....

I hope this Pope addresses the evil Latino worship of "Santa Muerte"

Other significant Papal Pronouncements:

1) The Sun revolves around the Earth. The Earth revolves around Rome.

2) Witches float in water, non witches will sink and drown. Too damn bad if you're innocent.

3) Sailing around the world is impossible. You will fall off the edge. Especially on a Carnival Cruise.

4) Priests can marry, then they can't because the Vatican doesn't want to pay for dependents.

5) You'll burn in Hell for eating meat on Friday. But fish is OK.

6) It's not OK to use birth control. Who will fight the crusades?

7) Celibate priests are at their best around children. How's that working for you now?

Since the Pope only has authority over Catholics I can't see why people like tstt and mke mike spend so much time worying about him. So much time commentting on him. If he is as irrelevant as you say why bother about him at all. The internet and face book are full of people who hate the Catholic Church commentting and complaining about the amount of coverage. Dudes if you weren't so busy sticking your noses in our business it would have mostly died down already. You are the people fueling it.

the vatican will lie about anything and everything

"The wrath of H*** will be imposed upon the Progressives"

Too bad Mr. Ed Schultz is not around to give the World his words of wisdom on the new Pope.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Progressives and Unions = Dinosaurs

Umm, lone? I think most would be really happy to see the coverage go away right now. Really, whatever the guy does to pay his bill (why is that news? Shouldn't everyone pay a hotel bill?) doesn't mean he is a good guy.

And testt made a good point and I think you missed it with your condescending post, tom. The point isn't whether you worship him, think he is God's messenger, or whatever. I think the point was that a real man of "God" surely would be peaceful inside and out and not involved in the horrendous things that popes are usually involved in before they become pope. Why not choose a peaceful, serene, passionately man who has lived an exemplary life instead of the guys who hid pedophiles and all kinds of other unsavory activities? Then people might not be rolling their eyes or dismissing him as just another bad guy who came to power. If he came out as a holy and tolerant, peaceful man who lived a Christian life (and Jesus wasn't all about excluding people and judging them...sorry, but he wasn't) perhaps some respect for the office and the man would come about. As it is it probably won't happen.

So the point was simply that it is how a person lives and not his title that brings respect or disdain.

Nothing more than a cult trying to hold on to power they once had. Funny, I don't remember a "throne" anywhere in the bible when speaking of "Jesus". You guys that support this corrupt organization should be ashamed of yourself and for you to look in the mirror everyday and not feel shame is telling. Deprogramming and education is the only answer to this problem. This goes for all cults on this planet, I certainly hope that when the time comes and humans finally get off this world we don't take these useless cults along for the ride, what a rotten trip that'll be.

I would have more faith in a developmentally-delayed, flying spaghetti monster, than I ever would of the Pope.

Religion is an insult even to children.

SNAPPA....glad someone else out there has this view. Sad fact of the matter is...the human race seems naturally attracted to cults/cultish behavior. Humans like to worship certain people (because they seem like Alphas or are given power by those with high social status). Social theory, most of American psychology, religious institutions/formal religion, and the need to classify people are all related to this human need to deify certain people.

We worship CEO's, the American founders (fathers), anyone who has a position of authority, attractive females, jocks, and leaders of all kinds. It is all idiocy...and we like to believe that we are different from base animals because of our ability to reason and use logic. The sad truth is...we are very much stimulus-response creatures like the other animals (except that we have the ability to rationalize our behaviors after the fact).

These foolish journalists--they swallowed whole the Vatican's narrative about Bergoglio being a humble, modest servant of God and the poor.

Now most of the journalists are ignoring this story about Bergoglio's failure to stand up to the murderous junta in Argentina in the 70s.

He's headed for sainthood in this image-obsessed, corrupt church.

"We are in old age. ... Like good wine that becomes better with age, let us pass on to young people the wisdom of life."

You can't put old wine into new bottles. The Church refuses to evolve with the times and to listen to and meet the needs of its followers. Most other religions do. That's the reason for the tremendous exodus from the Catholic Church.

#1.1 tom343 - Christians don't accept equating Christ with, say, Krishna or the like. There is much you might chose to learn about Christ and faiths built about Him. Do as much studying about Christianity and Catholicism as you have evidently done about these other faiths.

During the "lost years of Jesus" between his adolescence and when he began his ministry, he was in Tibet learning about Buddhism. That was what he based his teachings on.

@ennertgram -----------------Oh shut up.

Dear Never Stop:

Religion is an insult even to children.

Especially to children.

@marywhatsis: Those who have nothing to say of any value "whatever", and limited vocabulary with which to say it, resort to rude and vulgar language to express themselves, regardless of the ineffective result. Get an education, Mary.

The current govt of Argentina is run by ex montaneros friend of Chavezand very corrupt, dictatorial types I wouldn´t take their criticism o fthe new pope seriously.!

All the bitter little people are out tonight.

During the "lost years of Jesus" between his adolescence and when he began his ministry, he was in Tibet learning about Buddhism. That was what he based his teachings on.

This is an astounding statement. Please provide your evidence to make such a claim. Otherwise, I'll have to agree with marywhatever.

What I want to know is this: what exactly did his holiness do during the dictatorship to stop the carnage? If he was not complicit in it. I do not buy that he is only being accused of complicity by anti-church factions. In fact, one of his accusers is a Jesuit priest who was tortured by the military. I am willing to entertain the notion that he felt he could do more by staying alive and trying to subtly influence the allegedly Catholic murderers who were the Junta. But then, I really think he should butt out on the issue of gay adoption. He now opposes same sex couples being able to adopt children; but, he took no anti-adoption stance when the stolen babies of the disappeared were adopted by the murderous military "durante la dictadura."

#1.23 HChris: Mary is a rude and ignorant person whom I feel sorry for since she is not interested in learning anything. I just ignore those types of people. You seem to have a little more intellect to at least inquire about something someone has to say that you don't know about, which could be interesting. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. Here is my source. It is a book called: The Lost Years of Jesus: The Life of Saint Issa. It is credible, and says that:

Ancient scrolls reveal that Jesus spent 17 years in India and Tibet. From age 13-29, he was both a student and teacher of Buddhist and Hindu holy men. The story of his journey from Jerusalem to Benares was recorded by Brahman historians. Today, they still know him and love him as St. Issa.

We also know that Yeshua (Jesus'real name) spent several years living among the Essenes, one of many groups who long broke with Judaic Tradition and studied the sciences much to the chagrin of the High Priests who dictated every aspect of one's life. That's what their scriptures (old testament) were for, tools to control the people. Mathematics and physics and philosophy were chief among the subjects taught by those (Essenes) who had been schooled in early Greek thought and rescued secret materials from the library at Alexandria. They were well on their way to understanding quantum theory and unified field theory although they used the limited terminnology of their time. A growing number of historians, including myself, are getting closer to proving he (Yeshua/Jesus) did not die on the cross. It takes a couple of days to die by crucifixion and he was only on the cross about 6-9 hrs. The "gall" he was given to drink contained an herbal elixir to knock him out, making him look as if he died, and after Joseph of Arimethea gave the captain of the guard a bribe, he was given the body to bury before sundown. The three Marys went to the tomb bringing herbs and spices. Why? Jews did not embalm. They brought herbs and spices to heal his wounds and to nurse him back to health. After he was well again he met with some of his followers then went to another land, many think it was India and some archaeoligists think they know where he was buried.

It seems that all priests, bishops, cardinals and even Popes have engaged in criminal activities and behavior and that's the pitfall of the Catholic religion. Its being ran by criminals, gangsters of sorts. Anyone who believes in the bulls*** propagated by any religion is weak-minded and gullable. Think for yourself, not as some glorified, pious criminal mandates that you think. This isn't the middle ages, they can't torture you and de-bowel you any longer and get away with it.

peter-1143549: Some interesting concepts. Does your research say anything about the sword that supposedly lanced the side of Jesus?

@enneagram1: The Jesus in India theory has been pretty thoroughly debunked. Nicolas Notovich was a fraud.

Oh, and it was impossible for Jesus to be learning about Buddhism in Tibet, because Buddhism didn't arrive in Tibet until the 7th century AD.

"...It was Thomas Jefferson's well-founded opinion that "In every country and in every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot, abetting his abuses in return for protection to his own."

The "Dirty War" Pope

16 March 2013

For over a week, the media has subjected the public to a tidal wave of euphoric banality on the Roman Catholic Church's selection of a new pope.

This non-stop celebration of the dogma and ritual of an institution that for centuries has been identified with oppression and backwardness is stamped with a deeply undemocratic character. It is reflective of the rightward turn of the entire political establishment and its repudiation of the principles enshrined in the US Constitution, including the wall of separation between church and state.

What a far cry from the political ideals that animated those who drafted that document. It was Thomas Jefferson's well-founded opinion that "In every country and in every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot, abetting his abuses in return for protection to his own."

Jefferson's view—and the reactionary character of the media's sycophantic coverage—finds no more powerful conformation than in the identity of the new pope, officially celebrated as a paragon of "humility" and "renewal."

Placed on the papal throne is not only another hard-line opponent of Marxism, the Enlightenment and all manner of human progress, but a man who is deeply and directly implicated in one of the greatest crimes of the post-World War II era—Argentina's "Dirty War."

Amid the pomp and ceremony Friday, the Vatican spokesman was compelled to address the past of the new Pope Francis—the former Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Jorge Bergoglio. He dismissed the accusations against him as the work of "anti-clerical left-wing elements."

That "left-wing elements" would denounce the complicity of the Church's leaders in the "Dirty War" waged by the military junta that ruled Argentina between 1976 and 1983 is scarcely surprising. They accounted for many of the estimated 30,000 workers, students, intellectuals and others who were "disappeared" and murdered, and the tens of thousands more who were imprisoned and tortured.

But some of Bergoglio's harshest critics come from within the Catholic Church itself, including priests and lay workers who say he handed them over to the torturers as part of a collaborative effort to "cleanse" the Church of "leftists." One of them, a Jesuit priest, Orlando Yorio, was abducted along with another priest after ignoring a warning from Bergoglio, then head of the Jesuit order in Argentina, to stop their work in a Buenos Aires slum district.

During the first trial of leaders of the military junta in 1985, Yorio declared, "I am sure that he himself gave over the list with our names to the Navy." The two were taken to the notorious Navy School of Mechanics (ESMA) torture center and held for over five months before being drugged and dumped in a town outside the city.

Bergoglio was ideologically predisposed to backing the mass political killings unleashed by the junta. In the early 1970s, he was associated with the right-wing Peronist Guardia de Hierro (Iron Guard), whose cadre—together with elements of the Peronist trade union bureaucracy—were employed in the death squads known as the Triple A (Argentine Anti-Communist Alliance), which carried out a campaign of extermination against left-wing opponents of the military before the junta even took power. Adm. Emilio Massera, the chief of the Navy and the leading ideologue of the junta, also employed these elements, particularly in the disposal of the personal property of the "disappeared."...

http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/03/16/pers-m16.html

perhaps not thrown but the "seat of Moses" had authority

Oh look all sorts of anti-catholic bigots out again. Hey bigots have you burned any jews lately?

So he blames the devil for these things plaguing the church?

"Let us never give in to the pessimism, to that bitterness, that the devil places before us every day. Let us not give into pessimism and discouragement,"

I guess that really is the christian thing to do, sweep it under the rug.

Your posting makes it sound as though you've given-in to pessimism and discouragement.

Credit: The devil IS to blame for all evil in the world, not just in the church and the Pope is reminding us not to fall into the devil's snare.

@Credit

And there it is, that devlish pessimism Francis was speaking of.

So you three are in favor of not looking at the problem and trying to fix it? and instead throw your hands up claiming it's the devil?

The devil isn't to blame for evil. Man does that all their own, devil is just the scapegoat.

The devil and his evil are very real, my friend. If we deny him, he destroys us.

I am describing a naiveté about the
world that Christians, at least, should not be toying with. In his
brilliant essay The Wind in the Trees, GK Chesterton explains our
misunderstanding by means of a great storm he experienced:

“I am sitting under tall trees, with
a great wind boiling like surf about the tops of them, so that their
living load of leaves rocks and roars....The wind tugs at the trees
as if it might pluck them root and all out of the earth like tufts of
grass. Or, to try yet another desperate figure of speech for this
unspeakable energy, the trees are straining and tearing and lashing
as if they were a tribe of dragons each tied by the tail.

As I look at these top-heavy giants
tortured by an invisible and violent witchcraft, a phrase comes back
into my mind. I remember a little boy of my acquaintance who was once
walking in Battersea Park under just such torn skies and tossing
trees...he said at last to his mother, ‘Well, why don’t you take
away the trees, and then it wouldn’t wind.’ Nothing could be more
intelligent or natural than this mistake. Any one looking for the
first time at the trees might fancy that they were indeed vast and
titanic fans, which by their mere waving agitated the air around them
for miles. Nothing, I say, could be more human and excusable than the
belief that it is the trees which make the wind. Indeed, it is a
belief so human and excusable that it is, as a matter of fact, the
belief of about ninety-nine out of a hundred of the philosophers,
reformers, sociologists, and politicians of the great age in which we
live. My small friend was, in fact, very like the principal modern
thinkers; only much nicer.”

Chesterton was describing the naiveté
that has since paralyzed the world, a naiveté revealed by our shock.
What do you really believe about the cause of the "storm?"

You would think that after a century
which included the Holocaust, Stalin, the Khmer Rouge, and the rise
of terrorism to name but a few, we would have been cured from our
childish ideas about evil. You would think that after any one of the
hundreds of atrocities of the past few years, we would have been
cured. Rwanda, 9/11, human trafficking—what is it going to take?

Can your God tell me what goes on at the singularity of a black hole?

If he told you, could you understand it? How about when a soap bubble collapses?

Trust2112

Who would have thought that the late Flip Wilson was a theologian??? Didn't he always say, "the Devil made me do it!"

As a Catholic I can say my Church needs the same purging that Hercules gave to the Aegean Stables. We are hip deep in IT and the cleansing can't come soon enough. Unfortunately, it won't be under Pope Francis however humble and sincere he is. Too tied to the past and his "coziness" with the junta is troubling.

Younger priest must also recognize the needs of late teen, 20 & 30 somethings. Old, tired doctrine and a list of "thou shalt nots" isn't going to fly. They want their religion to be relevant and personal.

Can your God tell me what goes on at the singularity of a black hole?

I'm 100% sure HE could since HE created the Heavens and the Earth.

Dare one hope, this man actually seems to be a Christian!

A Christian is a follower of Christ. If you are proposing that in the face of a military junta that was killing it's own people and selling off children, that Christ would have remained silent and even assisted the miliary junta, then yes, this pope would be Christ-like.

I think you and the College of Cardinals are once again mistaken.....

@Sheryl

And you can claim this because...?

He a wonderful man. Look at his humble start in Argentina.

This smear campaign is typical of the slumlord Masons, Communists and other garbage of this world that seeks to destroy ANYTHING that is good, decent and tries to live a moral life.

As for the posters on this story - how is your hatred feeling?

I guess you choose to ignore all the sex scandals in the Protestant churches. THOSE don't count???

Never mind Bill in the Oval Office. No, no, no, not with his wife all set to run in 2016.

The sex scandals are all in the Vatican II Catholic Churches where Priests have been given a virtual green light to do whatever they wish. Bishops do not do a thing to homosexual Priests. For one - look at Gregory in Atlanta. He had to deal with a story on 2 Priests CAUGHT IN THE ACT. He sent one back to Colombia and sent the other to another town in GA. It was covered on CBS news. The amazing thing is Gregory was the one who "wrote the book" (Dallas Charter) on what the American Catholic Church is to do in such cases. I guess he forgot to read it. He just tries to get rid of good Priest who believe in the Traditions of Catholicism.

If you are interested in the Catholic faith. Go to a REAL Catholic Church. Go to a Traditional Catholic Church, not the rebellious, heretical VAT II Catholic Churches in the USA.

See the FSSP, SSPX, SSPV and the Canons Regular of Chicago.

Dominus Vobiscum.

Then the question for you is how 'traditional'? The same stances that the Catholic church took upon its inception? 1200 AD? 1600 AD?

Without identifying what you truly mean when you say traditional, I'd have to say it's a bad idea to simply go back to tradition for traditions sake.

Can you explain to me what a Miracle Event is?

why would this pope be any different from the others that have hidden those that preyed upon children ?That was covered up by the whole church....Wars were started by that church..in the name of God no less...I have to wonder just who gives them the right to tell anyone what they should or should not do...and as for the word of God..don't believe I have seen anything writen in his hand..only that which the church makes claims of...and let us not forget that the church put the bible together ..selected what they wanted in it..and only what they wanted.

Oh seriously, you blame homosexuals for the church's problems? How clueless can you be? FYI, I used to go to traditional Catholic churches and didn't see all that wonderfulness you say is there. You obviously are all enamored with traditions and excuses, but the fact is the whole setup couldn't be better for abuses of several kinds. You have priests and higher-ups who are supposedly God's intermediary to all the lay people, and then add the guys aren't married, no women allowed, the culture is total secrecy, and there is this sin silently if you must sin idea. Then add the bank they have and all the other secrecy and you have a recipe for evil and cover ups. Of course bad things happen in every church and in any area where you have those in authority and access to vulnerable children and even adults, but the Catholic church has taken it to a level that others haven't.

Yes, I do know what I am talking about and have seen it first hand, and no, I don't hate Catholics or the idea of religion if it is with good intent and no absolute rulers who have free rein to take advantage or those they supposedly lead. I am not a basher at all. I am simply stepping back and looking at the actual occurrences instead of just thinking with my heart or religious preferences. It isn't about believing in God or Jesus, since that isn't the issue.

When you make mere humans some kind of exalted religious figure you have corruption, and reading that he was getting on his throne made me think of how that messes up the idea of being good and following Jesus Do you think Jesus would have sat on a throne and worn fancy red shoes and lived in a huge, fancy secret city? Hidden evil acts? Betrayed people? Let greed take over the secret money system? Really...it's such a big and layered system that no, I don't equate other religions with the Catholic church. So be honest and just admit you are really biased on this. We all have filters and biases, but you sit there and make the traditional Catholic church sound like something it just isn't.

If you are happy there I say go for it and enjoy your faith, but trying to tell those who see the situation from the outside as well that all is rosy and the popes are all wonderful men leading more wonderful men won't get you a lot of agreement from anyone except followers who aren't seeing the whole picture.

#2.3 Believe'nAmerica - The devil IS to blame for all evil in the world,

The "devil" is a man-made concept and does not exist.

Right again Enneagram1. "Satan" was actually the title given to the "prosecuter" in the courts of ancient Judea. He was the one who brought you up on charges. The courts had become so corrupt that they would prosecute anyone just to squeeze more money,property etc. from them. People started to greatly fear the 'satan' and often used the term like parents who use 'the boogeyman will get you' to get their children to obey. Remember that the people of this time did not read nor write, they had a very limited vocabulary and were nearly completly controlled by the high priests who were the real powers behind the thrones, much like the ayatollahs behind the thrones in some middle eastern countries today. The whole concept of devils, satan, and hell was simply invented as a control technique and it has worked for a long time, part of the fear based dictatorships (both religious and secular) that still control billions of people. One of the reasons Jesus was sent to be executed was because he protested the politics of fear and tried to replace all that stuff with a simple natural love.Too bad his followers follow religions instead of him.

@WeAllHaveOpinions: So he was leading "by example" in Argentina in the '70s and '80s when he did NOTHING to stand up to the brutal military junta that tortured and killed tens of thousands of students, mothers, children, and even priests? He says he was "quietly" trying to push for change; but I'm sorry that's simply NOT good enough, not when you supposedly care about God and good above anything else. It sounds like he valued his own hide and position more.

There were some great priests in Argentina during the junta. Unfortunately, they were murdered by the junta.

You don't know what you are talking about - your just piecing together hearsay from primarily Catholic bashers.

All hail the newbie!

Seriously?

I pray that Pope Francis opens the eyes of the followers, openly punishes those who harm children in the name of Christ. This man seems to have led by example, lived a true life of poverty, just a true follower of the vows he took 54 years ago. I pray that he remains the humble servant that his Argentina followers spoke of him being. How terrible of me to be happy Benedict stepped aside, but it is Gods will. His will to bring a man in that will work hard and make positive changes to the church.

I mean, seriously? I don't want to live on this planet anymore.

I think, like John Paul II, he will challenge the people of God (All people of God) to serve the poor, and to stand up for all human rights. So, he won't do the work, but commission us to do the work.

dnest,

just curious, when you say 'stand up for all human rights' are you including LGBT rights?

Hmm, grow? I think by 76 one is more likely to be shrinking.. but maybe shrinking also can lead one to a better truth.

He is following the church teaching, he never said he hated gays or women. Ones beliefs should never be changed to accommodate others.

I just wish that our own politicians can admit shortcomings and ask the people for forgiveness instead of trampling on the people's rights! Give credit to the new Pope for at least admitting shortcomings!

This is not about you, you know.

Ones beliefs should never be changed to accommodate others.

WAS THAT ADOLF HITLER or JOE STALIN that first said this?

Even the Pope must follow the teachings of the Bible and Sacred Tradition. Those he cannot change. Sacred Tradition does not mean what color shoes he wears it means the body of work from the Early church fathers such as the letters of Ignatius of Athioch on his way to martyrdom written before the New Testament was compiled but not included in it. And writings from the doctors of the Church like Summa Theologica and the Confessions of St Augustine. He is bound by the same teachings as any pew Catholic anywhere. Because it is NOT his Church but it is HIS Church that of Jesus Christ.

to We all have Opinions...you think one should never change beliefs to accomodate others? really? then we should take back the right to vote from women and black people? we should continue with abortion and capital punishment? I think the church would like to change a lot of people's beliefs to accomodate it's own.

Well said Veronica and God bless!

I'm glad you're happy to be part of an organization (due only to where you were born and who you were born to) that merrily covers up the sexual abuse of children. You're probably also proud of the way they treated Giordano Bruno.

I am a convert thank you.

No, but we are happy to be part of an organization that feeds the hungry, houses and clothes the poor, cares for and heals the sick. Sexual abuse by priests and the cover up of those acts by the hierarchy are terrible things, they do not constitute the whole of the Church.

BTW, absolutely no one is born Catholic. Baptism into the Catholic Church is a choice. Generally it is made for infants by their parent(s), but once you become an adult, you are free to either confirm that choice or leave the Church.

No it is not due only to where I was born and who my parents are. I left the Church in the early 70's and just came home this year. I made this decision based on the teachings of the Church and the Real Presence of Jesus Christ. Sorry but you are not as smart as you think you are.

Lonereb, Welcome Home!

I made anti-Catholic comments on other threads but I find myself admiring this man already. Quote from article:

"Francis has brought to the papacy a new tone of informality -- some of his remarks Friday were said to be unscripted and he spoke from the pulpit, not the throne -- and an ordinary touch."

He rejected the script that was given to him and chose his own words. He also chose to ride in a small Pullman rather than the finer car after he gave his sermon... part of which was the shunning of wealth and having humility. Those are important things for him because he chose to speak on them right away and because he has already proved himself from his own lifestyle. He seems to be the genuine article and I, for one, find his message uplifting. The very least people might do is give him a break... he's been the Pope for about 48 hours. To say that nothing will change is not accurate because we have already been shown changes in that short amount of time. I may not be religious, but I do respect other people's rights and I'm informed and open minded enough to know that some people who abuse children or condone such behavior, don't reflect on or spoil those people who don't. I also can accept that he will preach ideas that I might not agree with. That's fine... countless people will agree with what he says and my opinion is no more valid or less valid when it comes to spirituality or lack of it. My mind is going to remain open and I hope he proves to many people that he was the right choice for the Catholic church which exists and will continue to exist in spite of those who disapprove.

Believe'nAmerica

The Catholic Church has 1.2 billion believers around the world

And a few of them actually go to Church on Sundays!

Wm Travis do not judge the Catholic Church membership based on American experience. We are a small part of it. If I based the rest of Christianity based on my experience I would say that all Protestants only believe something until it becomes inconvenient and then change the doctrine to suit their whims. Because that is what I see from the outside. I know there have to be true believing Protestants out there unfortunately I have met very few. I would judge that all liberals are control freaks because that is what I see but there must be liberals who truly belive in their agenda but from the outside I see very few. I would say all atheists are haters because that is all I see but there must be some who just want to live and let live unfortunately I never met them.

Well, lonereb, you make lots of assumptions there there you are clueless about. I thought you weren't supposed to be judging others? You don't want them judging you, right? Well saying all liberals are a certain way is pretty clueless, and you are wrong about atheists as well. Some are wonderful and some are obnoxious, just like Catholics and Protestants.

The Catholic Church has 1.2 billion believers around the world. Don't think it's going to ever disolve.

*dissolve

Catholicism won't go away around the world. Here in the US, that's a different story. Organized religion is crumbling by the day, as it should.

An outside consultant said the voting process in conclave it the most fraud resistant procedure he has ever seen for a small group. So I guess in a country in which half the people do not believe the last election wasn't rigged I would keep my mouth shut. Nobody ever tried to say the Catholic Church is a democratic institution. It is a religion founded by Christ whom we all including Pope Francis serve. The Vatican States are a theocracy. The Vatican States are not the Church just the place in which the leadership of the Church is carried on. Who we have elected is the Servant of the Servants of God The priest serves God and the priesthood of the laity. The bishop serves God ,the priesthood and the priesthood of the laity. And the Pope has to serve God, the bishops, the priests and the priesthood of the laity. That is why after electing the poor dude they all apologize to him for sticking him with it.

Why do you really care? Seriously, if I end up rotting in hell, why do you care?

Note what BC stands for, and then note that you are speaking of the time before Jesus, which would tell me that you do know Jesus is amongst us.

'BC' stands for 'before common', just like BCE stand for 'before common era'. Jesus, if he existed, died a few thousand years ago; his molecules are scattered across the globe, as are every other dead person's. If you think anything different, you need to see a psychiatrist.

You must be a youngster. Use to be "before Christ'. A few is three, and a couple is two. Live a little longer and you will see the evidence first hand. As for now, try to explain why everything "is". Hopefully it will humble you to the reality of things.

Massive, for centuries, B.C. meant Before Christ. A.D. means Ano Domini - The year of the Lord. It is just in our lifetime that historical reconstructionists invoked the term Before Common Era. The break between before and after the "common era" continues to be the birth of Christ.

Ted C. - please tell us, where is your proof that God doesn't exist, not just your biased beliefs. I want to see hard scientific data to back up your assertion ! By the way, if God does exist, then there is a Satan.

Baliman:

Why does existence of God demand a Satan? Consider this: either God is what we think - Infinite, existing outside of time and space (since he created them) and all powerful. Or else, he is limited - just a more advanced version of ourselves. Now, if He is all powerful, then he knows all, beginning and end. So, if He knows all, then he knew about Satan's rebellion even before he was created. Now, did he create Satan just to introduce evil into His creation? Or is evil just the other side of God - and a necessary thing for the growth of us all?

BC stands for before Christ and AD stands for Anno Domini the year of the Lord. If you want before common that is BCE before common era used mostly in non-Christian countries. History major here had to know that. But since you are living in a Gregorian calendar in the first place we fixed the Julian calendar It was named after Pope Gregory. So you will not get away from us. It is March 15, 2013 in the Gregorian calendar. Liturgically I think it is the year 6,000 something in the Jewish calendar. SO MASSIVE MEAT WHAT DO YOU USE FOR AD WHICH STANDS FOR THE LATIN ANNO DOMINI the year of the Lord.

Baliman, where is the "hard scientific data" to back up the assertion that there is no EasterBunny, or no Zeus? That's not how science works. The person who claims that something DOES exist has the burden of proof. So if you believe in an invisible deity or an invisible devil, YOU provide the hard scientific data that your invisible whatever is there. Good grief. Religion really destroys the ability to think clearly or rationally.

The reason that "BC" and "AD" were used is because the Catholics had a stranglehold on Europe in terms of EVERYTHING. Look at the scientists who were imprisoned or even killed because they dared to posit theories like the Earth revolves around the sun, the Earth is round et. al. The current terminology is "BCE" or Before Common Era and "CE" or Common Era which acknowledges that not everyone on the planet is Christian. The conceit of those who insist on using "BC" and "AD" still shows a lack of tolerance for people who have other beliefs, even when those beliefs are from the same traditions as the Christians (Judaism and Islam - which are both Abrahamic religions and come from the same source). It ignores the Buddhists, the pre-Christian Celtic religions, the Native American beliefs, the Hindus ... there are more NON-Christians in the world than there are Christians.

Something else to consider is that according to the Abrahamic origin stories, Cain was sent to live in a community outside of Eden and supposedly fathered children. He was banished from the Abrahamic peoples so who did he have children with? This shows an existence even in the Abrahamic traditions of "others" who are not bound by the same strictures of the Abrahamic peoples (e.g "original sin" in the Catholic and Christian churches). Therefore, the traditions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam state that there are peoples who are NOT bound by the laws, traditions and mores of those religions. Even though the more recent traditions of those religions call for people to go out and convert the "others" and bring them into line with the world view and traditions of the Abrahamic religions.

Nah, most Marxists, like Josef Stalin and Mao Zedong are Atheists.

Were, and Stalin was not a Marxist, I speak of his actual policies, not his words

Trotsky was a Marxist, Stalin was not

First of all there are "some" not a lot. Second, that's what the Pope is talking about, and it looks like you agree.

Tarzan.... you're intelligence is more like Cheetah's !! There have been quite a few people down thru the centuries MUCH, MUCH, MUCH, MUCH, MUCH, MUCH more intelligent than you'll EVER be - who believed in the existence of God !!

Tarzan, since more that 6 billion people in the world belong to one religion or another, should we realistically believe that the 20 or 30 of you who are left are correct?

Religions exist because people have an innate need to understand their place in the university. Science is the search for the answer to the question "how". Religion is the search for the answer to the question "why". It is a search for purpose, for identity and for understanding at a more visceral level than the "how" of science. Religions get it wrong when the adopt an absolutist worldview - my religion is the only right one and everyone else's religion is wrong. Religions also get it wrong whenever we mix religion with the secular power of government. They get it wrong a lot because "why" is a much more difficult question than "how". That doesn't mean that all religious thought is bad, nor all religious people stupid. It would appear however that even atheists can be self-righteous tools.

1. God is the easy button in life for sinners: The easy button to live guilt free to repeat. First a women, then a man, then to the children. And so through prayers all are children to play with for good times for a good religious person. ahem.

2. God is the answer to all sinners : The belief itself makes it true. ahem.

3. God is everywhere to all sinners: Witness the cycle of a true religion: (belief God) = (belief Sinners ) = God, sinner, everywhere is still unity. ahem.

4. Sinners can't hide in church/temple/mosque and that makes God sad. Sinners do hide in church/temple/mosque and that makes God sad. Therefore God is always sad and forgiving. ahem.

5. What does God wants? sinners? devout? happy? ... err uh um a Business? but business has nothing to do with God? ah hah! *squint for the bright light*

Tarzan -

your comment can be said of all the liberals on these nbc sites. It is amazing what they believe and really think it is the TRUTH!

Wow.

As for the devil, if you don't believe in these "fairy tales" - why do you believe in the devil????

Well, actually no one has proven there is a God, and even if they did or proved there wasn't one people still can choose to believe whatever they like. So now if a lot of people believe something it is automatically correct? How does that make sense? Many incorrect assumptions have been made since humans came along, and just because many believe something doesn't make it true...it is ridiculous to say that it does. And baliman, since when has one's level of intelligence (which you have no data regarding that for anyone here anyway) been the determining factor in whether a belief is true or not? What are all those brilliant geniuses basing that "belief" (notice it is a belief and not a fact) on?

I am not saying we shouldn't believe what we want or not believe, but just that it makes no sense to tell someone that a belief must be correct because some smart people happened to believe it. So you mean if my IQ is 200 and I'm great at Math or Physics I automatically know if God is real or not? Umm...no. Some really smart people can't even find the key to the bathroom, even though they can solve complicated equations that most can't even understand. And some who have little education and an average IQ can look at the word belief and understand that it doesn't mean fact. Oh, and there are many who do happen to be really smart who don't believe in God, so what's your point? It's a belief just like me saying I believe blue cars are prettier than black cars. I can't prove they are, but to me it seems reasonable that they are...believe as you wish or don't, but don't try to pretend that because some "smart" people said there is a God or isn't a God that makes it true with no evidence.

This is the crap that holds us back. This superstious nonsense as to go. Education is our only hope.

Massive, it would appear that you're the one stuck in the bronze age. We have been in an age of reason for quite some time now. Science is doing quite well and the really intelligent among us see benefits to both science and faith. What we don't abide well is hate. Got it?

I can't wait until the day that superstition dies, and humanity enters an age of reason.

I believe that time will come, just keep listening for those trumpets and when the heavens open up and Christ rides in on his white steed; all you unbelievers will be begging for forgiveness. Matthew 10:33 But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father in heaven.

Mass -

right. we can see what all this "progress" has got for us up to today.

All this "modern" thought has brought us all to a new age of great prosperity. Right?

What about great food?

Great shoes, maybe????????????????

What have we got from all this so-called "progress"?

GREAT problems.

Since this so-called "progress " got us here, I don't think it is going to get us out of it.

Good point Tradition, we were much better off when non-Aristotelian scientists were killed or imprisoned, and massive numbers of people died of contaminated water, infections, contaminated food, wars over whose interpretation of the trinity was accurate, and doctors who thought that seisures were demonic possession.

PS, a lot of that contamination came not only from a lack of understanding of germs, but also from the church telling people not to bathe because it separated them from God and their natural state.

Joemike,

What we don't abide well is hate. Got it?

lol. Tell that to the LGBT community.

Wonder how he feels now?

No, you're thinking of the Bush/Cheney Regime. The engineers of why things are so f'ed up.

Patriotsquesion911 dot com

And to stay on topic, there is enough evil in man without a need for a "devil" to blame.

The sad thing is that neither of you two are being facetious. The reign of Bush and Obama combined is a tiny speck of history, in a single country - in a world that spans back thousands of years.

We wish you were born in the 22nd century too.

(2Co 4:3) But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
(2Co 4:4) In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

The Dark Ages had nothing to do with simplemindeness, it has to do with the Black Rulers during that time. The Moors ruled Europe (I got the records, pictures and evidence to prove it) King James IV of Scottland was the last Dark Ruler until the Vatican with the help of the asassian Guy Fawkes took Jacob down and his son Charles Stuart.

Artur... remember what you write here in your dead bed....

@tom..ah yes, heaven forbid obama take kickbacks from the Koch Brothers, A.L.E.C. or sign an oath of allegiance to Norquist or get financed by big oil, least of all Wall Street. Perhaps there would be less babies killed and less aids if the church supported the use of condoms. We have become (?) a barbaric nation. Wake up and smell the coffee! We've always been a barbaric nation. Remember Manifest Destiny and what that meant to Native Americans. If Obama were a conservative he would be doing time right now? Tell me the crooks on Wall Street were all liberals, any of them doing time?

For the sake of arguement, let's suppose there is a devil. Would he destroy us by being in the white house, by being in the church, or by giving us reasons to bitterly shred each other. You may think you're on target, but you have nothing to shoot at it with. (And yes I finished with a preposition.)

And the easter bunny too!

Oh yes, don't forget the easter bunny. It's just as real!

Fiction.

True. VERY true.

Thank you.

All this talk of "dark ages" is nothing but fear mongering by people who don't know what they are talking about.

Fear, they live in it, fear it and try to make others do the same.

Not me. I am a Traditional Catholic and I see God's Grace working in my life on a DAILY basis.

Thank you Lord!!!!!!!!!!

For those who do not believe in Jesus, that is your choice.

And - like any other choice - get ready to answer for the consequences when they are presented to you.

Dominus vobiscum.

But I have read the Greek New Testament, as well as the Quran, the Hebrew Bible, and the works of multiple Church fathers.

Speaking from what you apparently annoint as a position of authority, most of the church's stories are actually retreads of Greek, Roman, and Mesopotamian myths that predate them by centuries.

Noah's real story is my personal favorite. A sumerian emperor saw that the river was flooding so he put his private zoo onto his boat and rode it out

Moses is a retread of a Mosopotamian legend with many versions, all included flights from captivity, speaking to (a) god on a mountain, and taking laws to the people. The laws were sometimes on wood, sometimes on stone, and there were always ten of them.

The story of Jesus (whose real name was Yeshua), he was born the only begotten of God and a virgin. He then helped the world before sacrificing himself and taking his side beside his father in Heaven. Here's the original story. Hercules, only begotten son of Zeus and a mortal virgin. He helped the world before sacrificing himself to save humanity and taking his place at his father's side on Olympus

Augistine's notion of predestination (City of God) largely comes from the Stoic theory of determinism, he used a subsitution of God for nature (which the Stoics sometimes referred to as Zeus)

william--the sumerian was, i think, Xthrustras(sp?). Moses is from stories of Sargon I. stories of Jesus, the son's of light and darkness, are found in Zoroastrianism which predated Jesus. Then there were the fallen angels which were supposedly the "Angels of the Watch". I could never feel comfortable with the plural attribute given to Yahweh in Genesis, "let us go down and create man in our image".