We have a Pope

[EltonJohn]

Oops, you're right - I was reading it as he was the 4th Pope. My bad!

 

[sodaseller]

SP Times

Article about Gov. Jeb Bush being sent as part of US delegation to Papal installation

Bush was in an expansive mood Friday and spoke at length about why he decided to become a Catholic in 1995. His conversion came shortly after he lost his first campaign for governor in 1994, when his brother George was elected governor of Texas.

"I'd just gotten whupped in the governor's race in '94. It gave me a chance to kind of call time out, and think about important things," Bush said.

He said his wife, Columba, and their three children are Catholics, and he has been attending Mass for years. He also described the Catholic faith as "very powerful" and "serene."

But he also described breaking with the Episcopal church after a priest talked politics from the pulpit while his father, former President George Bush, was in the audience.

"He started talking about political issues, which I thought was completely inappropriate," Bush recalled. "My dad happened to be there and I didn't think he needed to get lectured by an Episcopal priest. I said, "I've had it."'

Bush is a strong supporter of the death penalty, though the Catholic Church opposes it. Florida bishops have pleaded with himto spare the lives of condemned killers, including Paul Hill, who killed an abortion doctor and an escort outside a Pensacola abortion clinic in 1994.

Two loaded statements there. First, Jeb objected to his father being lectured on politics from the pulpit, a position that I have much sympathy for, though the specifics may impact that judgment. Very interesting.

Second, Jeb supports the death penalty. Not only does he support the practice, openly, he signs the death certificate.

In the case of abortion, a Presidential candidate is considered in obstinate resistance to Church teaching merely for his statement that he will not attemot within his limited power to do so (mainly judicial appointment and even then no ultimate control) to outlaw the practice, even if that candidate expresses personal opposition. That is considered by the conservative Catholic Bishops to be be direct material cooperation with the practice.

In the case of the death penalty, which is only slightly less "prohibited" in the Magisteriuum, an official that has direct power to stop the practice can not only advocate for it generally but sign death certificates and order specific executions over objections from local Bishop, and he runs no danger that the Eucharist will be exploited for political purposes against him.

 

[Viking]

We now call him 'Paparazzi' over here.
And many people thought he would name himself 'George Ringo' which would have been the logical choice after 'John Paul'
In Germany many people are very excited about Ratzinger's election, more than 100,000 people are on their way to Rome to see his Inauguration.
With his call for Bishop Lehmann of Mainz to join him in the Vatican there's hope that we will be a bit more liberal than expected.

 

[sodaseller]

We now call him 'Paparazzi' over here.
And many people thought he would name himself 'George Ringo' which would have been the logical choice after 'John Paul'
In Germany many people are very excited about Ratzinger's election, more than 100,000 people are on their way to Rome to see his Inauguration.
With his call for Bishop Lehmann of Mainz to join him in the Vatican there's hope that we will be a bit more liberal than expected.

Very funny about the name.

Can you tell us more about Bishop Lehmann?

 

[eclipseSD]

I think "half hearted" Catholics must now realize that they have to choose between following either the Church or their own 'style' of being "sorta maybe Catholic," which will no longer be tolerated in the US parishes.

Lutherans and Episcopalians here must also realize that their faiths will be brought closer and closer to full communion with the mother Church, which may happen within this lifetime.