tyler.durden
Well-Known Member
Say it ain't so! I think they should have open try outs, I think I'd make a pretty good pope...
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/12/world/europe/with-popes-resignation-focus-shifts-to-a-successor.html?_r=0
[h=1]Successor to Benedict Will Lead a Church at a Crossroads[/h]
L'Osservatore Romano, via Associated Press
Pope Benedict XVI announcing his resignation on Monday at the Vatican. At left is Msgr. Franco Camaldo, a papal aide.
[h=6]By RACHEL DONADIO and ELISABETTA POVOLEDO[/h] [h=6]Published: February 11, 2013[/h] VATICAN CITY Pope Benedict XVIs surprise announcement on Monday that he will resign on Feb. 28 sets the stage for a succession battle that is likely to determine the future course of a church troubled by scandal and declining faith in its traditional strongholds around the world.
[h=6]Multimedia[/h]
Graphic
[h=6] The Catholic Church Shifted Southward Over the Past Century[/h] [h=6][/h]
[h=6]The Resignation of Pope Benedict XVI[/h]
[h=3]Related[/h]
[h=4]Connect With Us on Twitter[/h] Follow @nytimesworld for international breaking news and headlines.
Twitter List: Reporters and Editors
Enlarge This Image
[h=6]Agence France-Presse Getty Images[/h] Clockwise from top left: Cardinals Cristoph Schonborn of Austria; Angelo Scola of Italy; Marc Ouellet of Canada; Francis Arinze of Nigeria; Peter Appiah Turkson of Ghana; Timothy Dolan of the United States.
Citing advanced years and infirmity, Benedict became the first pope in six centuries to resign. Vatican officials said they hoped to have a new pope in place by Easter, while expressing shock at a decision that some said had been made as long as a year ago.
Saying he had examined his conscience before God, Benedict said he felt that he was not up to the challenge of guiding the worlds one billion Catholics. That task will fall to his successor, who will have to contend not only with a Roman Catholic Church marred by the sexual abuse crisis, but also with an increasingly secular Europe and the spread of Protestant evangelical movements in the United States, Latin American and Africa.
The resignation sets up a struggle between the staunchest conservatives, in Benedicts mold, who advocated a smaller church of more fervent believers, and those who feel the church can broaden its appeal in small but significant ways, like allowing divorced Catholics to receive communion or loosening restrictions on condom use to prevent AIDS. There are no plausible candidates who would move on issues like ending celibacy for priests, or the ordination of women.
Many Vatican watchers suspect the cardinals will choose someone with better management skills and a more personal touch than the bookish Benedict, someone who can extend the churchs reach to new constituencies, particularly to the young people of Europe, for whom the church is now largely irrelevant, and to Latin America and Africa, where evangelical movements are fast encroaching.
They want somebody who can carry this idea of new evangelization, relighting the missionary fires of the church and actually make it work, not just lay it out in theory, said John L. Allen, a Vatican expert at the National Catholic Reporter and author of many books on the papacy. Someone who will be the churchs missionary in chief, a showman and salesman for the Catholic faith, who can take the reins of government more personally into his own hands, he added.
The other big battle in the church is over the geography of Catholicism, which has spread decisively to the developing world. Today, 42 percent of its adherents come from Latin America, and about 15 percent from Africa, versus only 25 percent from Europe. That has led many in the church to say that the new pope should represent a part of the world where membership is growing quickly, while others say that spiritual vision should be paramount.
But while most of the worlds Catholics live outside Europe, most of the cardinals come from Europe, pointing to a central tension: while the Vatican is a global organization, it is often run like an Italian village.
Under normal circumstances, the cardinals would descend on Rome after the death of the reigning pope. In this case, said the Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, the pope will carry out his duties until Feb. 28 at 8 p.m., with a successor probably elected by Easter, which this year falls on March 31. But he said the timing for an election of a new pope is not an announcement, its a hypothesis.
Already, speculation is rife about who best fills the perceived needs of the church. Cardinal Angelo Scola, the powerful archbishop of Milan, is seen as the strongest Italian contender. A conservative theologian with an interest in bioethics and Catholic-Muslim relations, he is known for his intellect, his background in the same theological tradition as Benedict, his media savvy and his strong ties with the Italian political establishment. Vatican experts laud his popular touch, even if his writings are often opaque.
Cardinal Marc Ouellet, a dogmatic theologian and a Canadian, is widely seen as a favorite of Benedict, who named him head of the Vaticans influential Congregation for Bishops to help select bishops around the world. Critics in his native Quebec said that he was out of step with the provinces more progressive bishops, but that is not necessarily a drawback in todays church.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/12/world/europe/with-popes-resignation-focus-shifts-to-a-successor.html?_r=0
[h=1]Successor to Benedict Will Lead a Church at a Crossroads[/h]
Pope Benedict XVI announcing his resignation on Monday at the Vatican. At left is Msgr. Franco Camaldo, a papal aide.
[h=6]By RACHEL DONADIO and ELISABETTA POVOLEDO[/h] [h=6]Published: February 11, 2013[/h] VATICAN CITY Pope Benedict XVIs surprise announcement on Monday that he will resign on Feb. 28 sets the stage for a succession battle that is likely to determine the future course of a church troubled by scandal and declining faith in its traditional strongholds around the world.
[h=6]Multimedia[/h]
Graphic [h=6] The Catholic Church Shifted Southward Over the Past Century[/h] [h=6][/h]
[h=6]The Resignation of Pope Benedict XVI[/h]
[h=3]Related[/h]
- [h=6] The Lede: Latest Updates on the Popes Resignation (February 11, 2013)[/h]
- [h=6] Last Pope to Resign Faced Division Within the Church (February 12, 2013)[/h]
- [h=6] Catholics React With Shock, Sympathy and Muted Criticism (February 12, 2013)[/h]
- [h=6] Statement Surprises Rome, Then Ripples Around the World (February 12, 2013)[/h]
[h=4]Connect With Us on Twitter[/h] Follow @nytimesworld for international breaking news and headlines.
Twitter List: Reporters and Editors
Enlarge This Image
[h=6]Agence France-Presse Getty Images[/h] Clockwise from top left: Cardinals Cristoph Schonborn of Austria; Angelo Scola of Italy; Marc Ouellet of Canada; Francis Arinze of Nigeria; Peter Appiah Turkson of Ghana; Timothy Dolan of the United States.
Citing advanced years and infirmity, Benedict became the first pope in six centuries to resign. Vatican officials said they hoped to have a new pope in place by Easter, while expressing shock at a decision that some said had been made as long as a year ago.
Saying he had examined his conscience before God, Benedict said he felt that he was not up to the challenge of guiding the worlds one billion Catholics. That task will fall to his successor, who will have to contend not only with a Roman Catholic Church marred by the sexual abuse crisis, but also with an increasingly secular Europe and the spread of Protestant evangelical movements in the United States, Latin American and Africa.
The resignation sets up a struggle between the staunchest conservatives, in Benedicts mold, who advocated a smaller church of more fervent believers, and those who feel the church can broaden its appeal in small but significant ways, like allowing divorced Catholics to receive communion or loosening restrictions on condom use to prevent AIDS. There are no plausible candidates who would move on issues like ending celibacy for priests, or the ordination of women.
Many Vatican watchers suspect the cardinals will choose someone with better management skills and a more personal touch than the bookish Benedict, someone who can extend the churchs reach to new constituencies, particularly to the young people of Europe, for whom the church is now largely irrelevant, and to Latin America and Africa, where evangelical movements are fast encroaching.
They want somebody who can carry this idea of new evangelization, relighting the missionary fires of the church and actually make it work, not just lay it out in theory, said John L. Allen, a Vatican expert at the National Catholic Reporter and author of many books on the papacy. Someone who will be the churchs missionary in chief, a showman and salesman for the Catholic faith, who can take the reins of government more personally into his own hands, he added.
The other big battle in the church is over the geography of Catholicism, which has spread decisively to the developing world. Today, 42 percent of its adherents come from Latin America, and about 15 percent from Africa, versus only 25 percent from Europe. That has led many in the church to say that the new pope should represent a part of the world where membership is growing quickly, while others say that spiritual vision should be paramount.
But while most of the worlds Catholics live outside Europe, most of the cardinals come from Europe, pointing to a central tension: while the Vatican is a global organization, it is often run like an Italian village.
Under normal circumstances, the cardinals would descend on Rome after the death of the reigning pope. In this case, said the Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, the pope will carry out his duties until Feb. 28 at 8 p.m., with a successor probably elected by Easter, which this year falls on March 31. But he said the timing for an election of a new pope is not an announcement, its a hypothesis.
Already, speculation is rife about who best fills the perceived needs of the church. Cardinal Angelo Scola, the powerful archbishop of Milan, is seen as the strongest Italian contender. A conservative theologian with an interest in bioethics and Catholic-Muslim relations, he is known for his intellect, his background in the same theological tradition as Benedict, his media savvy and his strong ties with the Italian political establishment. Vatican experts laud his popular touch, even if his writings are often opaque.
Cardinal Marc Ouellet, a dogmatic theologian and a Canadian, is widely seen as a favorite of Benedict, who named him head of the Vaticans influential Congregation for Bishops to help select bishops around the world. Critics in his native Quebec said that he was out of step with the provinces more progressive bishops, but that is not necessarily a drawback in todays church.
