NEW POPE IN THE BLOCK

Cardinal Ratzinger
Originally uploaded by Gee Silver Kitty.

With the death of John Paul II, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, 78, now takes the late John Paul II `s place as the Pope; the strongest position in the Catholic Church.He was the favourite candidate for that position and was known to be closed to the deceased. Frankly, I never give this matter an inkling of thought. Maybe because a). I am not a Christian, b). During my 26 years of lives, all the Popes looked and sounded the same to me ( I could never tell which one `s Pope Paul VI or John Paul II..) and maybe c). the whole affair concerning the Vatican Church and Cardinals sounds like a dry subject and to a certain extent, there `s this sub-conscious form of restraint which automatically stops me from making any comments about other religion `s leaders/prophets. And then....enter "Angels & Demons" by Dan Brown. Suddenly, the quasi-fictious plot of that novel prompts me into taking just extra concern over what happens behind the walls of the Vatican Church.Although, I admit the melodramatic blurring plot-line between the real truth and fiction of the novel plus a minor romance thrown in piqued my curiosity a lot too. So, when I watched the LIVE telecast of the burial ceremony of Pope John Paul II in ASTRO, a notion struck me - "He `s gone, but who is taking over?" Regardless of how conservative people think these religious symbols are, religious symbols such as Imans, Popes, Dalais are living representations of the religion in question. Religion is actually a useless dogma without a certain framework and system which upholds it. The framework and system in question is very much fed by the teachings and intepretations of men ( it can also mean MEN ). So, what the religious leaders say or do in the name of his or her religion greatly reflects the religion itself. A noble quest, I am sure but a heavy burden, too. So, it is also pertinent, I guess for me to do a little bit of researching and get to know this new Pope. My findings are pretty disturbing, to say the least but I let you guys decide.So, without further preach, may I introduce you to the new Pope himself- Pope Benedict XVI.

Name:Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger
Age: 78 years old
Origin: Bavaria, Germany ( That makes him the Cardinal of Munich in 1977 )

Background Check:
- At the age of 14, a member of the Youth Hitler.
-Held prisoner of war in 1945 by the Allies
-Head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
-Can speaks 10 languages

Ideas/Principles:
-Against Liberation Theology - a means of involving Church in human rights and social issues.
-To him, "Religion was being subordinated to a political ideology that he considered "tyrannical, brutal and cruel".
-Viewed homosexuality as tendency towards intrinsic moral evil.
-Turkey should not be admitted into EU

These are bits and pieces of him that I gathered from various sources. It will be interesting to see what Pope Benedict will do while he is in office. It is a common fact that religion plays a role if not as the cause, the driver to many regional and global conflicts. We `ve heard of the involvement of Islamic sects or Christian Churches in some of these conflicts, on or off the record. So, I am overloaded with all sort of questions as to how the new shift in the Papacy will somehow re-shape the world politics or stagnantize ( I don't know if this word exist ) the current situation. We are yet to see anything...