the pope
 

I was reading on the world renowned news section of AOL today about the pope and his health....one cardinal that is a papal assisntant ( i dont know i am not catholic) says it isnt much longer until the end.

I just thought it was very sad. My grand dad died just recently of Parkinsons at that same very age and it was a sad thing to read about.

I went to Catholic school for 13 years, and my family's been very involved in the church for as long as I can remember. I can't remember when Pope John Paul II became the head of the church, he's the only Pope I've known, and it's tough to see anyone (papal or not) suffering like that.

I haven't really kept to my Catholic roots in recent years and I don't really share the same views the church does, but still I consider him a leader, and it broke my heart to see him leading the people at Lourdes despite his ailments.

It'll be really interesting to see who the next Pope will be. I'm halfway expecting some major changes in the Church.

My guess is someone from Africa or Latin America will be the next pope.

Yeah, its not looking very good for the Pope. Its really sad

His Holiness John Paul II was elected Pope in 1978. Before taking the name John Paul II he was Karol Cardinal Wojtyla, Archbishop of Krakow, Poland. (I hope I have the Polish spelling right...) He succeeded John Paul I, who reigned only about 30 days before succumbing to a mysterious illness.

I feel the same way you do, Sandy regarding the Church. I don't agree with certain rules and policies of the Church, but I do consider the Pope our spiritual leader.

If anyone wants to read an outstanding novel about the election of a Pope, I recommend reading The Shoes of the Fisherman by Morris West. It's almost eerily prophetic of the election of the first non-Italian pope in over 400 years. And mind you, it was originally written in the early 1960s.

Don't count out the Italians... they are the real power behind the papal throne. Whoever succeeds John Paul II will have some very large shoes to fill.

I would be very surprised to see a Pope come from anywhere but North America or Europe at this point in time...I think it would alienate American Catholicism to an even greater extent.

I don't really see a North American Pope in the near future... most likely European or South American. However there has been some debate over the issue in various Catholic publications and media... many see this as an important or pivotal moment in the Church, which could be influenced by a new Pope to adopt a more liberal or conservative policies, with strong advocates on both sides... should be interesting either way, to see if they can live up to the standard set by Pope John Paul II.

Like i said i am not catholic ,my dad is and believe me i was always threaten with a all girls catholic boarding school growing up ...but my question is this why is it that the church would lean towards an europeon cardinal to become pope vs. more american cardinal like cardinal john mahoney that is very pivotol in the US.....

The name John Paul came from the combination of those two previous Pontifs. Unfortunately, Pope John Paul died after a very short time in office and the present Pope, in a very dramatic and highly appreciated gesture chose the name Pope John Paul II.

I may be the only Presbyterian in history to direct a world TV pool feed of a live Papal Mass (World Youth Day in Denver) in about 1994 or so. What a presence this man has -- and what amazing pictures we got -- particularly during a night time prayer vigil in an open field on a summer evening in a state park in the Denver area. The Pope and other clergy, The National Repertory Orchestra, the Colorado Symphony Chorus and the Colorado Children's Chorale. And, of course, a "congregation" of about 450,000 people. Even back then, my robotic camera on the stage caught the trembling in his hands on tight closeups, noting the beginning of the Parkinsons -- but what an amazing face. And what a communicator -- in sixteen languages that weekend.

A resistance fighter during WWII, a poet, a skiier/outdoorsman, a scholar and a man of God -- no matter what religion you are, you can realize that he is a truely remarkable man.

A final story. On the night Cardinal Wojtyla (we'll go with your spelling, Alpha Sig), I was directing the 11:00 PM news on WJBK-TV, CBS in Detroit. We had a crew in Rome with the Late John Cardinal Dearden, Archbishop of Detroit when John Paul was elected -- and a month later they had to go back for the election of John Paul II. The night of his election, the producer and I were chatting about what kind of sidebar we might find. Out of the blue I told him to check the phone book because there was a large Polish population in the Detroit suburb of Hamtramack (not sure I spelled that correctly -- been a long time). Sure enough, there was someone named Wojtyla. Not a common name. It turned out that it was the Pope's cousin. We had the exclusive story, including picture of the two together in Poland at a much younger age.

The most recent speculation I've read is that the Cardinal/Archbishop of Lourdes is considered as the (or at least a) favorite to replace John Paul II.

Again, a remarkable man and a remarkable reign.

Close enough, DA... it's Hamtramck (pronounced Hamtramick). And Pope John Paul II's surname is pronounced "Voy-tee-vah". :)

The visit in Lourdes was very beautiful and I hope one day to visit the grotto (sp?).

The story behind it is very beautiful and has been one of my favorites since the first time I heard it.

These holy sites in Europe are very overdone in my opinion. I visited Fatima a few years ago. The site itself was beautiful. However, around it, was like a Catholic shopping mall. Rosaries, statues of the Virgin Mary, people trying to make a buck off of the religious. It was kind of a turn-off.

More information on the College of Cardinals and how a new Pope is elected.

College of Cardinals: http://www.aquinas-multimedia.com/cards/cards.html

Papal election: http://www.aquinas-multimedia.com/cards/sedeva.html

I really appreciate reading a thread about the Pope that is respectful, even if one disagrees with some of his/the Church's teachings.

Pope John Paul II is a hero of mine and I feel a daughter's love for him, so I'm hesitant to discuss his successor while he's still alive... but I've heard good things about Cardinal Arinze from Africa.

It's not a matter of choosing a pope who is "conservative" or "liberal"... from Europe, North America or elsewhere... but one who is loyal to the magisterium, the teachings of the Church. That is why Arinze's name has come up and Mahoney's of L.A. has not.

I've gotten weary of the media's constant death watch of JPII. It seems like they've been waiting for him to die for years. Maybe his time is near, maybe it isn't. I don't think it's his fragile health that has been sustaining him anyway. :cool: