Maybe the butler will put it on ebay???

Quote:

The red shoes go to the next pope. Benedict will wear brown loafers.

what's gonna happen to the Red Shoes?

Maybe this is an opportunity for me to do some sinning and not worrying about what the Pope thinks.

There are reports of massive amounts of pre-marital sex, homosexuality, divorces, and abortions currently occurring across the globe.

That's it. As of 2:00PM we are Popeless. How's everyone handling the vacancy?

big yawn here - am I supposed to be surprised?

Pope Benedict's resignation linked to gay conclave: report
A 300-page dossier compiled by three cardinals investigating the theft of Vatican documents was reportedly given to the Pope the day he decided to resign. The investigation is said to have uncovered a number of factions within the Vatican of gay men who have engaged in sexual activity with male prostitutes and at organized sex romps.


Read more:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world ... -report-article-1.1271328

Quote:

I agree. Another thing to consider. If guaranteeing succession by a pontiff who shares the same views as Benedict is the goal, it's pretty much already assured. Every cardinal alive was appointed by either Benedict or JP II, both of whom are/were very conservative cannonically. The electors of the next pope are not very likely to be liberal Vatican 2 types.

Look, I'm a surviving Catholic and no fan of the current Pope. But from what I've heard and read, Pope John Paul II was completely incapacitate physically and mentally at the end of his papacy. Pope Benedict witnessed that and didn't want that to happen to him. He's EIGHTY FIVE! He realizes that he's declining. Smartest decision he's made since he was made Pope.

Several years ago, the present pope was attacked by a crazy woman during a Mass, this was the second time she did this. The pope forgave her, realizing her mental condition, he has the same compassion for his butler. This 85 years old pontiff, had a stroke in 1991 plus many other health problems, his doctors do not want him to fly on planes, a requirement for the job in this age. I watched this pope during the Christmas Mass, he had a hard time walking. Benedict has the humility to recognize he cannot do the job the way he wants to. There is no conspiracy since popes, even bad ones are not impeached.

Just heard an NPR piece that may shed light. Opinion was that the Cardinals are less likely to choose a new guy whose views differ much from Herr Ratzinger while the old boy is still alive. So at least in part it's a way of exerting successor control.

Sorry -- make that a job at a Vatican Hospital in Rome!

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new ... utler-given-hospital-job/

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The Pope did not "forgive" his butler -- he pardoned him and released him from the Vatican prison -- then gave him a high paying job and extra money at a Vatican Bank -- outside the walls -- in Rome!

Do you read the news?

http://ncronline.org/news/vatican/for ... tence-vatican-prison-cell

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This is ridiculous, John Paul 11 also forgave the person who shot him, is that a coverup? Benedict X16 also mention retiring from active duty when he was a Cardinal but he credits the former Pope keeping him active. I believe his age and health problems is stopping him from leading an active life as a pope. For those who follow him, he has appointed more cardinals outside of Europe which means there might be a Latin American pope, or an African Pope, although many people are hoping Dolan from NY will be the next Pope.

Yes -- but also Money-Laundering & corruption at the Vatican Bank: (click links below)

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/wor ... s-butler-saw-8190468.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/22/world/europe/22vatican.html?_r=0

This scandal has been ongoing for 30 years:

Over the course of just a few months in 2010, thousands of people in Europe, Australia, South America and beyond came forward with reports of priests who raped and molested them as children, and bishops who covered up the crimes.
Documents revealed that the Vatican knew well of the problem yet turned a blind eye for decades, at times rebuffing bishops who tried to do the right thing.
Benedict had firsthand knowledge of the scope of the problem since his old office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith which he had headed since 1982, was responsible for dealing with abuse cases.
He met with victims across the globe, wept with them and prayed with them. He promised that the church must "do everything possible" to ensure such crimes never happen again. The Vatican updated its legal code to extend the statute of limitations for cases and told bishops' conferences around the world to come up with guidelines to prevent abuse.
But Benedict never admitted any personal or Vatican failure. Much to the dismay of victims, he never took action against bishops who ignored or covered up the abuse of their priests or moved known pedophiles to new posts where they abused again.


http://news.yahoo.com/popes-mission-r ... ed-scandal-134811412.html

Pope steps down -- first Pope to do so in 500 years -- this is hot on the heels of pardoning his Butler on Dec 22 -- then giving convicted former Butler a high paying job at a Vatican Hospital in Rome!

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Pope?s butler

Friday, January 18, 2013

VATICAN CITY: The pope?s former butler Paolo Gabriele, who served jail time for leaking secret papers, has been offered a job at a Vatican hospital in Rome, religious media sources said Thursday.

Gabriele, who served less than three months of an 18-month prison sentence for stealing secret papal memos, was pardoned by Pope Benedict XVI in December but banished from the Vatican.

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Pope's former butler given hospital job

By David Uebbing
Catholic News Agency

Paolo Gabriele, the Pope's former butler who was released from prison just before Christmas, has a new job working for an extension of the Vatican hospital Bambino Gesu.

According to the German Catholic agency KNA, Gabriele has been offered a job doing clerical work for a new branch of the hospital near the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls. He will also receive assistance with housing, since his wife and three children must move out of their current Vatican apartment.

The new extension of the hospital was opened on Sept. 10, 2012 and focuses on outpatient care for children. In early 2013 it will include a research center dedicated to pediatric diseases and illnesses.

The former butler was sentenced Oct. 6, 2012 to 18 months in prison for leaking sensitive papal documents to the media.

In an Oct. 26 Vatican communiqu?, the Holy See summed up the damage caused by Gabriele by saying that a ?personal offense was done to the Holy Father? and ?the right to privacy of the many people who?addressed themselves to him was violated.?

But on Dec. 22, Pope Benedict visited his former aide in prison to forgive him and pardon him for his crime.

Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi told journalists that the Pope's visit was ?a paternal gesture towards a person with whom the Pope shared a relationship of daily familiarity for many years.?

When Italian police officers searched Gabriele?s apartment May 23, following the publication of several confidential letters in Italian journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi?s book ?Your Holiness,? they discovered approximately 1,000 incriminating documents and 82 boxes of evidence.

During the week-long trial, the judges heard how Gabriele stole copies of confidential documents from the Papal Apartments. These included personal documents sent between the Pope and various cardinals, encrypted communications from papal ambassadors across the world, and some papers marked by the Pope with ?to be destroyed? in German.

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new ... utler-given-hospital-job/