Benedict XVI Has Died

[47of74]

The former Pope died early this morning

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Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, the Bavarian-born theologian whose conservative Roman Catholicism earned him the nickname “God’s Rottweiler” and who shocked his flock by suddenly resigning the papacy after just eight years, died Saturday, the Vatican said.

Benedict was the longest-living pope, having surpassed Pope Leo XIII in September 2020.

“With sorrow I inform you that the Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI, passed away today at 9:34 in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican,” the Vatican said in a statement early Saturday. No cause of death was provided. "Further information will be provided as soon as possible,” the statement said.

The Vatican said Benedict’s remains would be on public display in St. Peter’s Basilica starting Monday, with his funeral to be held on Thursday, Jan. 5 in St. Peter's Square.

 

[FluffySnowball]

The end of a wasted life is always sad. Was he an extraordinarily intelligent theologian? Certainly. But at least to me, his unfortunate role in the molestation scandals, his help in covering up crimes against children, and his reactionary worldview make me dislike him. 
Sure, there are plenty of people worse than him… but there are also many who are much better. 

Edited December 31, 2022 by FluffySnowball

[47of74]

Some more details on the funeral

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While pope, Benedict was head of state, since the Vatican is an independent city-state. But with no such role at the time of his death, the Vatican's funeral details reflected a scaling back of pomp and protocol.

Only official delegations from Italy and Benedict's native Germany were invited to the funeral, although a letter from the Vatican's secretariat of state noted that “authorities from other countries who wish to may participate in a private capacity.”

With Benedict out of the public's eye for nearly a decade, the turnout of the faithful for the outdoor funeral was also expected to be reduced, certainly compared to the outpouring of faithful for the last funeral of a reigning pope — St. John Paul II in 2005.

Security officials in Rome were estimating that 60,000 people will flock to Thursday's funeral, Italian state television said. For John Paul, an estimated 300,000 mourners gathered at his funeral.

Well since the US isn't invited in an official capacity at least Jake Tapper won't be able to stick his foot in his mouth by starting some stupid garbage that the President should invite the orange fornicate to the funeral.

[Bluebirdbluebell]

I was worried people would try to sugarcoat his legacy. He helped cover up clergy sex abuse. He was extremely homophobic. I hope he and John Paul II are together in the afterlife.

[47of74]

Well he was a cat person so that’s worth a point in my book. 

Quote

Like any bona fide cat lover, Pope Benedict XVI's face would light up and his hand would reach out at the sight of a fluffy feline -- even when that soft bundle of fur was a squirming, feisty lion cub brought to the Vatican by visiting circus performers.

His comments about how animals must be respected as "companions in creation" earned him high marks with animal welfare groups, including the Humane Society of the United States and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

As cats are known to sense approaching cat lovers, Vatican kitties would apparently swarm around him.

For example, one day after celebrating Mass at a small church near St. Peter's Basilica, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger went to the church's cemetery, which was full of cats, Konrad Baumgartner, an eyewitness and theologian, told Knight Ridder in 2005. "They all ran to him. They knew him and loved him."

 

[Seahorse Wrangler]

I was scrolling through the BBC news yesterday and was worried that Papa Emeritus(Tobias Forge, Ghost) was ill. I had totally forgotten about Benedict XVI.

[indianabones]

Kendra Tierney is using his death as an opportunity to brag about how she managed to get her eldest son's first communion performed by Benedict. Lots of fawning from her Instagram followers on the comments over it, of course.

[RainbowSky]

On 12/31/2022 at 2:26 PM, 47of74 said:

Some more details on the funeral

Well since the US isn't invited in an official capacity at least Jake Tapper won't be able to stick his foot in his mouth by starting some stupid garbage that the President should invite the orange fornicate to the funeral.

Maybe I'm stupid here, (and I was busy with my newborn first child and FJ at the time haha) but didn't people...like...uhh... actually like John Paul? Lol

[Bluebirdbluebell]

55 minutes ago, RainbowSky said:

Maybe I'm stupid here, (and I was busy with my newborn first child and FJ at the time haha) but didn't people...like...uhh... actually like John Paul? Lol

People will always come if they can to celebrate someone famous and to see the spectacle.  Also a lot of very trad Catholics loved Pope Benedict XVI.  There is really very little to pick from between Pope Benedict XVI and Pope John Paul II.  They had similar world views and both worked hard to cover up sex abuse.  Benedict actually wrote speeches for John Paul II. Both of these men leave very tarnished legacies and shouldn't be too celebrated. I hope they're together in the after life.

[QuittersTry]

1 hour ago, RainbowSky said:

Maybe I'm stupid here, (and I was busy with my newborn first child and FJ at the time haha) but didn't people...like...uhh... actually like John Paul? Lol

Pope John Paul will be remembered by history for Vatican II and modernizing mass for catholics (mass in native language, not latin). His leadership in that area made him loved and highly respected. I always call Benedict "Nazi Pope".... literally and for his strict interpretations. Not a fan.

[Nothing if not critical]

3 hours ago, QuittersTry said:

Pope John Paul will be remembered by history for Vatican II and modernizing mass for catholics (mass in native language, not latin). His leadership in that area made him loved and highly respected. I always call Benedict "Nazi Pope".... literally and for his strict interpretations. Not a fan.

John Paul II had nothing to do with Vatican II and modernizing mass - that was John XXIII, and then Paul VI, in the 1960s, long before JP's time. John Paul II would probably have gone back to before Vatican II if he'd been able to. He was super conservative and not into all that modern stuff.

He was popular, yes, because he travelled a lot and was good with the media (things like the mulitlingual Easter greetings he used to do), but he was by no means progressive. His views on women priests and the like were one of the main reasons I quit Catholicism way back in 1993.

Edited January 2, 2023 by Nothing if not critical

[Bastet]

John Paul II was pope for a very long time, and at the beginning people hoped that a guy who seemed so cool might actually be so. He was young as popes go, could sing and ski, wasn’t Italian, and he understood pr. He drew crowds when he traveled. Pope Paul was such a sad sack in comparison. But he was a conservative at heart. He reaffirmed the church’s opposition to birth control and he failed to support liberation theology, instead hobnobbing with South American dictators, to give two examples that particularly piss me off.  (The tragedy here is that he could have supported birth control and the suffering masses who lived under rapacious and deadly dictatorships without hopelessly alienating conservatives. In contrast, at that time ordaining women would likely have caused a schism. No true pope would do such a thing, the Curia dudes would undoubtedly say.)

Edited January 2, 2023 by Bastet

[libgirl2]

I always felt Benedict couldn't take the pressure with all the sex abuse scandals so he up and quit dumping it all on Francis to clean up and deal with. 

[Giraffe]

1 hour ago, libgirl2 said:

I always felt Benedict couldn't take the pressure with all the sex abuse scandals so he up and quit dumping it all on Francis to clean up and deal with. 

It’s certainly a possibility. My assumption is he was diagnosed with dementia and “encouraged” to retire at that point. 

[libgirl2]

21 minutes ago, Giraffe said:

It’s certainly a possibility. My assumption is he was diagnosed with dementia and “encouraged” to retire at that point. 

Interesting..... he did say he was not physically and mentally able to continue. 

I have heard that Francis has resignation papers ready in case he becomes incapacitated and he is thinking about resigning regardless. 

Edited January 2, 2023 by libgirl2

[viii]

On 12/31/2022 at 10:07 PM, 47of74 said:

Well he was a cat person so that’s worth a point in my book. 

This is such a gross and inappropriate comment. He was a vile man who worked hard to cover up inexcusable crimes. Just because he liked cats doesn’t mean that suddenly improves his image a little. He could be the biggest cat lover in the world and it wouldn’t matter a damn. He failed so many people and making a light hearted comment like this is gross. 

[47of74]

7 hours ago, QuittersTry said:

Pope John Paul will be remembered by history for Vatican II and modernizing mass for catholics (mass in native language, not latin). His leadership in that area made him loved and highly respected. I always call Benedict "Nazi Pope".... literally and for his strict interpretations. Not a fan.

Actually it wasn’t JPII who introduced the vernacular in the mass but Paul VI in 1970.  JP actually allowed for the pre 1970 Mass to be said again but in limited circumstances in an attempt to appease the far reich wing of the church.  Benedict then expanded the amount it could be used and who could offer the mass  

When the English speaking part of the church tried to come up with a better translation Benedict’s allies trashed what the linguists came up with and had their own “experts” come up with one. One that was clunky and didn’t work as well as they thought it would. I guess they thought if they couldn’t ditch vernacular mass wholesale using Victorian English was the next best thing.

Francis dialed back the pro Latin policies of his predecessors and limited how much it can be used.  It’s useful in ceremonies where you have participants communicating in a number of different languages like at St. Peter’s at Christmas or Easter but other wise it’s largely used by conservatives to prove they’re holier than thou. 

42 minutes ago, libgirl2 said:

Interesting..... he did say he was not physically and mentally able to continue. 

I have heard that Francis has resignation papers ready in case he becomes incapacitated and he is thinking about resigning regardless. 

I’ve heard different stories. Some of them are Francis intends to leave office in the traditional feet first manner and others that he’d be open to retirement.  I also heard he prepared a resignation letter in case he was incapacitated.

I think it’s going to take a few popes to see if retirement starts to become a thing. 

Edited January 2, 2023 by 47of74

[libgirl2]

7 minutes ago, 47of74 said:

I’ve heard different stories. Some of them are Francis intends to leave office in the traditional feet first manner and others that he’d be open to retirement.  I also heard he prepared a resignation letter in case he was incapacitated.

I think it’s going to take a few popes to see if retirement starts to become a thing. 

I don't have a problem with retirement as we are talking elderly men in not always the best of health, but then I think that you are supposed to be a servant of God and to the people. I know nuns and priests retire but this is the Pope. 

[47of74]

2 minutes ago, libgirl2 said:

I don't have a problem with retirement as we are talking elderly men in not always the best of health, but then I think that you are supposed to be a servant of God and to the people. I know nuns and priests retire but this is the Pope. 

This reminded me there was a meme at the time where Benedict was asking former Canterbury Archbishop Rowan Williams what retirement was like.

I hope this all makes Popes a bit more open about retirement and not determined to stick it out to the bitter end. 

[libgirl2]

5 minutes ago, 47of74 said:

This reminded me there was a meme at the time where Benedict was asking former Canterbury Archbishop Rowan Williams what retirement was like.

I hope this all makes Popes a bit more open about retirement and not determined to stick it out to the bitter end. 

And maybe we (I'm Catholic) could get some younger men in there that can do the job for a longer time. 

[47of74]

4 hours ago, libgirl2 said:

And maybe we (I'm Catholic) could get some younger men in there that can do the job for a longer time. 

They did that with John Paul II, he was the youngest guy since Pius IX to take the office and they both had long reigns - JPII was in over 23 years and Pius over 31 years.  JP was almost 58.5 years old when he took office and Pius was 54.  They had some really horrible younger people too over the almost 2000 years the office existed so if I was still part of the church I'd be more concerned about quality instead of age. 

[libgirl2]

19 minutes ago, 47of74 said:

They did that with John Paul II, he was the youngest guy since Pius IX to take the office and they both had long reigns - JPII was in over 23 years and Pius over 31 years.  JP was almost 58.5 years old when he took office and Pius was 54.  They had some really horrible younger people too over the almost 2000 years the office existed so if I was still part of the church I'd be more concerned about quality instead of age. 

Gee, JPII was only a year older than me. 

[mango_fandango]

6 hours ago, viii said:

This is such a gross and inappropriate comment. He was a vile man who worked hard to cover up inexcusable crimes. Just because he liked cats doesn’t mean that suddenly improves his image a little. He could be the biggest cat lover in the world and it wouldn’t matter a damn. He failed so many people and making a light hearted comment like this is gross. 

I side-eyed this too. Hitler liked dogs and children. That doesn’t give him any points in my book.

[Bluebirdbluebell]

5 hours ago, libgirl2 said:

And maybe we (I'm Catholic) could get some younger men in there that can do the job for a longer time. 

Hopefully not. You get a young guy who's corrupt with lifetime appointment and his reign goes on forever.  

Edited January 3, 2023 by Bluebirdbluebell

[viii]

1 hour ago, mango_fandango said:

I side-eyed this too. Hitler liked dogs and children. That doesn’t give him any points in my book.

I know it’s a tongue in cheek comment but I just find it so unbelievably gross. Animal lovers are sometimes the most obnoxious people. Loving animals doesn’t mean shit when it comes to some people’s personalities.