Election of the New Pope

[dekeguy]

Originally posted by Peaches-n-Cream
I heard that also. I think that saints smell like flowers or flowers bloom when saints die.

=====================

There are a lot of questionable stories about the "signs" indicating sainthood ranging from devout and pious to downright silly. The "odor of sanctity" is a nice belief but is really just window dressing. I think the thing to remember is that in Roman Catholic thought sainthood simply means that the person in question can be reasonably presumed to have attained salvation and thus can serve as a role model for us to look to as a guide to how to "do it right". This is what is meant by the veneration of Saints. The process of declaring a saint (canonization) requires an exhaustive examination of the persons life, apparent fitness, and signs of God's favor. Something attributed to that persons intercession with God which defies normal logic and practice, like a medically authenticated cure from a terminal disease or something really unusual like Tulane winning the national championship in football.
All Sainthood means is that we are as certain as possible that the person is in heaven.

[MysticCat]

Originally posted by sugar and spice
By selecting a conservative pope, the church is essentially sweeping a number of problems (condom use in Africa, the priest shortage, European Catholics becoming less and less religious, etc.) under the rug instead of addressing them. I think we're at the place where the church needs to work with its members (especially European ones) instead of against them, and a conservative pope will be less likely to do that.

Supposedly (or speculatively), the European problem is one of the reasons that Ratzinger, a German, was chosen. I guess that they thought it will take a European to work on or "fix" that problem.

Geoffrey Wainwright, a Methodist theologian from Duke who has known Ratzinger for years, was on Nightline last night. He said that, from an ecumenical and inter-faith perspective, he was "elated" at the choice of Ratzinger and thought it would be very positive as far as ecumenical and inter-faith relations go. FWIW.

[MysticCat]

Originally posted by citydogisu
is there any meaning behind choosing the name Benedict?

He hasn't said why he chose the name, but I have heard three possible reasons suggested:

-- The last Pope Benedict was pope during the First World War and had a reputation as a peacemaker and reconciler. His efforts at peacemaking in the War didn't go well and led to him being distrusted by both sides, but his efforts to reconcile conservatives and "modernists" in the Church were more successful. Perhaps the new pope, aware of his reputation in some quarters, is signaling his desire to reconcile conservatives and progressives in the Church.

-- He may be harkening back to St. Benedict, the monastic who founded the Benedictine Order. St. Benedict was a scholar and a prayerful man, and those traits became hallmarks of the Benedictines. Some say that their scholarship kept the Church alive in the "dark ages" in parts of Europe. Benedict XVI may be suggesting that Europe and the West are again going through a "dark age" of secularism, and that scholarship and prayerfulness are needed.

-- St. Benedict is considered a patron saint of Europe. Many have surmised that the new pope, a German, may have been chosen, in part, to combat the rise of secularism and the decline of Christianity in Western Europe. The choice of the name may be a sort of invocation of St. Benedict as that task is faced.

Of course, his reason may be some or all of the above, or something else altogether.

[MysticCat]

Originally posted by ZTABullwinkle
From what my friend was telling me (she was raised as a STRICT Catholic)...Pope John Paul II chose his name since Pope John Paul I died only 31 days after being elected. So it was sort of in honor of Pope John Paul I.

That's correct, more or less. John Paul I chose the name to honor his two predecessors -- John XXIII and Paul VI -- and to show a desire to continue their work in Vatican II. John Paul II chose the name to honor John Paul I (who was only pope for a month -- perhaps JPII thought using the same name, which had been very favorably received, would make the sudden transition easier?) as well as John XXIII and Paul VI.

But according to many reports, John Paul II only chose that name after considering Stanislas, after the patron saint of Poland.

Originally posted by chideltjen
I had heard that he wasn't going to be embalmed, but not for the "deity" reason. I can't remember. Saw it on CBS news or something.

*shrugs*

From what my father has told me , since he is catholic and i am not, is that the pope is not usually embalmed because to be canonized to st hood they have to be buried natually without perservatives ( embalming fliuds).

[MysticCat]

Originally posted by cutiepatootie
From what my father has told me , since he is catholic and i am not, is that the pope is not usually embalmed because to be canonized to st hood they have to be buried natually without perservatives ( embalming fliuds).

No. Embalming does not prevent canonization.

It really may be just a simple as this: Embalming is not as prevalent in some parts of the world as it is here -- some places don't have the benefit of an organized mortuary industry convincing us all that embalming is "necssary."

[AlphaSigOU]

I've always liked the announcement in Latin on the naming of a new Pope:

Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum; habemus Papam:

Eminentissimum ac Reverendissimum Dominum,
Dominum Josephum Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae Cardinalem Ratzinger, qui sibi nomen imposuit Benedictum XVI.

I announce great tidings; we have a Pope:

Most Eminent and Most Reverend Joseph [of the] Holy Roman Church Cardinal Ratzinger, who has taken the name Benedict XVI.