[Niall]

I had the vague hope that this new guy might actually be more progressive in his leadership of the church, but according to Wikipedia, he's professed that the gay rights movement is "Demonic in origin". So yay! Another Papacy full of antiquated teachings and intolerance for all!

[Harry!]

I am very interested about what the new Pope will bring to the Catholic Church, in terms of teaching.

[InOne]

Seen as we're a Protestant Country don't know why we/the media care so much. This will probably dominate for ages, telling us what the Pope has been up to on his first days and **** like that

[Iceman]

Originally Posted by Kizzy

Was he your first.........pope.
Catholic humour

He was yes, I'm not as old as you to remember others
Iceman humour

[Niall]

Originally Posted by InOne

Seen as we're a Protestant Country don't know why we/the media care so much. This will probably dominate for ages, telling us what the Pope has been up to on his first days and **** like that

Well, like Iceman said, this guy is going to be the religious leader for a sixth of the world's population. That's an incredible amount of influence he holds. Factor in the issue that Catholicism is one of the of the fastest growing religions in the developing world then it really does make sense that his gets a lot of media attention.

Don't get me wrong, I'll be sick to death of it too (I'm already sick of it now actually), but when you think of all that stuff I just mentioned then it kind of makes sense.

[InOne]

Originally Posted by Niall

Well, like Iceman said, this guy is going to be the religious leader for a sixth of the world's population. That's an incredible amount of influence he holds. Factor in the issue that Catholicism is one of the of the fastest growing religions in the developing world then it really does make sense that his gets a lot of media attention.

Don't get me wrong, I'll be sick to death of it too (I'm already sick og it now actually), but when you think of all that stuff I just mentioned then it kind of makes sense.

Just seems a bit silly after the kick-in the Catholic Church has gotten recently, it's like they're washing over it and hoping people will forget just cos there's a new Pope.

Don't give two craps about this. Every second one of these people are ****ing pedos.

[Marc]

Franky boy

[Livia]

So they picked a 76 year old pope who doesn't support abortion or contraception, doesn't accept homosexuality and who resigned as Bishop of Buenos Aires due to "ill health". Seems odd to me if the Vatican are trying to show the world a new face... still, it has got all the newsrooms whipped up into a frenzy over the new appointment and made them momentarily forget about the paedophilia and the Vatican Bank scandal...

[Niamh.]

I guess it makes sense for them to choose a South American Pope though, as the majority of the Worlds Catholics are there and alot of European Catholics are turning away from the church

[Marc]

He should've been Irish

[lostalex]

Seeing the coverage on CNN yesterday was literally like watching a KKK rally. Thousands of people gathered together celebrating ideals of hatred and bigotry.

It really made me feel sick, but also gave me an appreciation for history because people used to think KKK rallies were okay too. It really puts racism into context. In 100 years, people will look back on rallies like this and think of them the same way that today we think of Klan rallies and Nazi rallies.

[Kazanne]

pope Fanny,has a certain ring to it,lol.

[lostalex]

I heard Gerard Butler on Howard Stern show a couple days ago. He's always a great interview. He's had a very interesting life. lol.

[Nedusa]

My view is that this is a strategic choice by the Vatican "Inner circle" inasmuch as it allows a Non European to become Pope but it knows the standing of the Pope has been diluted with the fact that the previous Pope is still alive. So effectively we have two Popes at the present time. As this new Pope is quite old and the previous Pope is older still my thoughts are that they would like both Popes to join St Peter sooner rather than later paving the way for what they really want ......... a young Italian Pope

Maybe in 5 years this will be the likelihood.....!!!!

[Nedusa]

I don't think we will see him in the UK anytime soon, he has already reportedly made comments re the Falklands islands which he should not have made since he is a religious leader. Representing over a billion Catholics worldwide he cannot afford to get involved in politics as he will surely upset large groups of Catholics in one country or another.

[Ramsay]

shhkkky boy

[joeysteele]

I am from a Roman Catholic background but religion plays little part in my life.
I have nothing against this man at all,I felt sure they would choose a Pope from outside Europe although this one does have Italian roots.

I am still puzzled as to the real reason Pope Benedict left the position, there have been Popes who have rarely left the Vatican anyway. It was hardly a necessity to undertake the heavy travelling recent Popes have.

There was an opportunity to do a John Paul 11 here and elect a much younger Pope who could have been more forward looking,they failed to grasp that and despite this one seeming very warm and friendly, I feel they have taken a further step backwards and chosen the wrong one.

[Shasown]

Frankie says Relax

He phoned me and told me "Tel mate, read what you wrote on TIBB about me, am taking the hump, might have you excommunicated, have a look at this;..... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21812545 !"