Re: Pope passed away!
^ just curious, which website is taht?
Re: Pope passed away!
thank u og n minh_pa.
minh: u know what i always thought about that too. come to think of it after the end of caliphate, muslims broke into various sects n subsects. perhaps caliphatism shudnt have stopped.
Re: Pope passed away!
Google it.
I really wrote that myself. Actually I went to Easter mass in a Catholic Church last week to see my niece baptised, and the Pastor had a whole sermon on the life of the Church after Christ rose from the dead.....
Re: Pope passed away!
Minah, death is a natural consequence for all living things. Judging the extensive administration of the Catholic church surely there is a system in place for new leadership, I'm sure the Catholic church will not shatter after Pope John Paul has gone.
Pope for Muslims? lol That can not and will not ever happen. It goes completely against Islam first of all, and secondly if there was a leader to be elected the various sects would never agree on a leader.
Re: Pope passed away!
Just wondering, is there someone similar to a Pope for Protestants as well?
Re: Pope passed away!
Catty, The Ottoman empire did not have an Ayatollah, or an Imam as leader?
The Vatican has rarely ruled over lands as the Ottoman Empire did, but there are many similarities. The fact that the Pope is the spiritual head of the largest branch of Christianity is sort of important. The Catholic Church is highly structured, and they will have a new Pope very quickly. This did not come as a big suprise…
UTD, I am not sure about that, I doubt it, but I will look it up.
UTD, you are indeed correct, however I don’t think the title was every really bestowed or claimed by Peter. I think the formation of the Church actually took two or three hundred years, and the actual title was characherized then. Obviously St Peter is the most revered, ie St Peters Basilica being the largest and most sacred church to Catholics
Re: Pope passed away!
OG, you are right about certain Islamic sects looking up to Imams, Saints and even presently living people. But the Islam I know and understand doesn't follow this school of thought. There is respect for learned people, but thats how far it goes.
Thanks for the explanation of the Catholic Church system! I've always wondered about Saints as well. What is their role in Christian history?
Re: Pope passed away!
I'm going to bed. goodnight.
Re: Pope passed away!
Catty, the saints and apostles hold special places in the church. Some sects like the Catholics require evidence that “miracles” occured, as evidence of God speaking directly through a Saint. I think the last Saint was Mother Teressa, and I don’t remember what they claimed were the miracles that she performed.
Outside of the Catholic church there is not as much emphasis on finding current day Saints, nor in invoking the name of the Saint to assist you with prayer. Many Catholics will wear a St Christopher medal around thier necks to protect thme for example. That is not common in other branches of Christianity.
Here is the “official Site” of Mother Teresa, and the section on Beatification is a good explaination of the process required to become a saint.
Re: Pope passed away!
cat-woman and Majestic (who I really like :) and hope she understands this) -
I know about the cycle of life and how natural death is and I am not expecting the Catholic church to shatter at all. It has been in existance 2000 yrs +/- already and through many Popes.
I can't answer for anyone else, but I am a practicing Catholic. He is our spiritual leader. If the spiritual leader you had fell ill and everyone was pulling a deathwatch at his bedside, I am sure it would affect you. He isn't a politician who was elected by everyone (there is an election, but not the same as in the secular world), he is a man who proved himself over the years to be a man of God and worked to get into the position he is as Pope. It is not the same as a business leader.
While I am going to be sad at his passing, I'm just happy knowing he will be in a better place and I will pray for him.
Re: Pope passed away!
I thought Islam was complicated. Christianity isn't any better either!
But I think Hindus take the cake at the end of the day. 12 heads what?!?!
Re: Pope passed away!
Sounds a bit like a Catholic version of the Caliph, but a Caliph is not necessarily considered the ‘mouthpiece of God’ neither an intermediary, if he goes against God's Law then he is to be rejected, we don’t really have a hierarchy as such and can’t blindly rely on anyone.
Pope seems to have a lot more in common with the Shia version of Imam.
Just out of curiosity what happens if the Pope is sat on his 'divine' throne one day and he decides to convert to Islam or something, how would the Catholic community react? Would they follow suit or would they reject him?
Re: Pope passed away!
Ranjhan - the reason a Pope is always as old as he is when he is appointed Pope is because he spent his whole adult life living through the word of God working his way through the ranks of the church. There is no way a Pope just decides to convert one day, something like questioning of his faith would have been noticed before he even got as far as the Vatican as a Bishop.
Re: Pope passed away!
Ranjhan,
Guys who voluntarily live their lives in vows of chastity and poverty have a pretty strong conviction. The politics of the Catholic church are pretty intense, just think of the power of Islam if you had a Billion people united under one leader! The Catholic church is extraordinarily wealthy and powerful. The Vatican is actually recognized as a Country. What they collect in the offering plates every week is more than the combined GDP of all those oil producing countries. The Pope in addition to being morally powerful for Catholics is also a very powerful person in many other ways...
Do ya think an Ayatollah is going to become a Christian just to take over Jerry Falwells' church?
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OG, I am with you about the chastity (maybe) but poverty? Pope and poverty? are you friggin out of your tree? respectfully ofcourse. 
Re: Pope passed away!
He wasn't always the Pope. He spent 40 years as a priest in Communist Poland. I bet the Pope does have some nice digs though... And if you like art? Might be a couple of unaccounted for old masters layin around. The downside? An assasination attempt, and having to ride in the popemobile.... Frankly you would have to pay me a lot to be chaste....
Re: Pope passed away!
A good man gone. May he rest in peace. I personally from a political point of view am very happy with what the Pope has done in the past to encourage peace and bring back the conservative line of thinking. I personally agree with a great deal with what the Pope had to say and his sentiments on many issues.
Many feel that the Pope was to conservative and that he made the Church harsher and stricter. I disagree. I am happy he reverted to the traditions and time honored practices of the Catholic Church.
A good man. I do hope the news that he pointed alot of people with a similar view point into the Vatican in positions of influence is true. The world needs more religion and tolerance, something the Pope was famous for. He deserves a moment of silence regardless of faith and caste in his honor.
Re: Pope passed away!
ummm, still not gone. As of this moment still alive. Like the guy in Monty Python said, "I'm not dead yet."