The New Pope

[MinaHarker]

Apparently this is the first time in hundreds of years that a pontiff has resigned and the reasons for his doing so have not yet been confirmed.

I don't know if the procedure for electing a new one is the same in cases of resignation as it is when one dies in office. Will the camerlengo smash Benedict's seal?

[Dirk Gently]

It appears he wants to resign at the end of the month because he feels he's too old.
I thought being old was a pre-requisite for being Pope, seeing as when they "gave" the position to John-Paul II he was 58 and stayed in the post until he died at nearly 85 and in extremely poor health. Although his predecessor was only 65 & died after 33 days in the post.

[Stuart Wallis]

I gather that a Cardinal can put his name forward for the papacy as long as he's not reached the age of eighty by the time a pope dies or resigns, and that he can still stant even if he does by the time the Conclave of Cardinals meets to elect the new pontiff.

The last pope to resign was Gregory XII in 1415.

[Andrew Curnow]

And the new Pope could be a woman.

[Nyder]

Yay it's Joanna Lumley :-)

[Stuart Wallis]

And the new Pope could be a woman.

I thought the old pope looked a bit like Tom Baker...

[MinaHarker]

Seen on Twitter:

A horse walks into a bar. "Too late," says the barman, "we're joking about the pope now." "It's true," sighs Richard III.

[Dirk Gently]

There's white smoke, a new Pope has been elected.

I seem to recall that Pope Benedict's election took ages, this one seems to have been very swift.

[Dirk Gently]

Cardinal Bergoglio is now officially called Pope Francis 1st.

The first Pope from Latin America (Argentina).
The first Pope from outside Europe for over 1000 years.
The first Pope to adopt a unique name for...well I can't remember but it's quite some time as they are going on about it on BBC 2 right now.

[SiHart]

But not the first non-homophobic Pope. Quelle surprise.

[cullsoft]

But not the first non-homophobic Pope. Quelle surprise.

Sadly, I'd expect further progress in the development of aviary swine before that were not to be the case.

[Anthony Williams]

But not the first non-homophobic Pope. Quelle surprise.

I'm not quite sure why such a large number of my friends seem to be surprised by the new Pope's stance on homosexuality. Did anyone really expect anything else?

This is one of the many reasons that I am not Catholic.

[SiHart]

Well no, but there were possibly more progressive and enlightened choices out there.

[Stuart Wallis]

I'm not quite sure why such a large number of my friends seem to be surprised by the new Pope's stance on homosexuality. Did anyone really expect anything else?

Do we want the long or the simple answer to that?

[Anthony Williams]

Well no, but there were possibly more progressive and enlightened choices out there.

This is true, but considering that about 75% of the Conclave were appointed by the previous conservative Pope, it's not surprising that at least 66% of the Conclave voted for another conservative to be Pope...

[Zbigniev Hamson]

Does this mean we can now expect the catholic church to weigh in on the Falklands argument?

[Stuart Wallis]

They'll send Father O'Flaherty round to Number Ten to offer Cameron some fire and brimstone and could he put a couple of bob into the collection box?

[Jeff]

At this point, whenever I see the thread title I'm thinking "Already?!"

[Nyder]

Ha ha that's exactly what I thought too. They don't last long do they!!

[Stuart Wallis]

Ruddy norah! that's the third this week!