White smoke and bells
 

It appears that a new pope has been elected. We have white smoke and bells. :) More news to come.

FallenAngel5,

Wow! That was quick!

LOL - what can I say, was browsing Pixie's when the bells began. :)

The announcement of who the new Pope is and his Papal name is soon forthcoming.

Habemus Papam.

Okay, does anyone else see the irony in that ^^^^? LMAO. :D

OK, here goes. :) And yes, IAKG, irony accepted. :)

Dear brothers and sisters:
I announce to you a great joy: we have a Pope! (Habemus Papam).

Who is: Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany.
Papal Name: Benedict XVI

I'm happy for Catholics around the globe! Here's to peace and love :wine:

With the possibility of a new Pope from the third world,from Africa or at least one from the tradition of Liberation Theology,I guess the Cardnals decided to play it safe.The new Pope is a conservative. Probably more so than the previous Pope. Being from Germany,shouldn't he spell his new name,Pope BenediKt XVI?

Lakritze,

In keeping with the theme of the thread, Jesus Christ is reported (John 14:2) to have said “In my Father's house are many mansions/homes/rooms” depending upon the translation.

Germany was the birthplace of Bach, Beethoven, Karl Benz, Gottfried Daimler, Albrecht Dürer, Albert Einstein, Gabriel Fahrenheit, Johann Goethe, Steffi Graf, Günter Grass, Johannes Gutenberg, Franz Joseph Haydn, Werner Heisenberg, Heinrich Hertz, E.T.A. Hoffmann, Immanuel Kant, Johannes Kepler, Henry Kissinger, Gottfried Leibniz, Martin Luther, Ernst Mach, Thomas Mann, Karl Marx, Friedrich Nietzsche, Georg Ohm, Johann Pachelbel, Wilhelm Röntgen, Friedrich Schiller, Albert Schweitzer, Mies van der Rohe, Richard Wagner, Carl Zeiss, Ferdinand von Zeppelin, among others.

The world would be a much poorer place indeed without the Germans.

Amen Jseal :)

I'm not Catholic but I do hope this Pope does a good job for his people.

It's going to be very hard for anyone to follow in the footsteps of Pope John Paul II. He was a truly extraordinary man. Prayers and best wishes for the new Pope.

good heavens what an interesting peice of trivia! thanks for sharing!

Not wanting to bring down the mood, but I just got off the phone with a very well read, close friend. According to her, the new Pope is a ex member of the Hitler Youth. He has supposably renounced his connection, but this is scary if true. Anyone able to shed a bit of light here? (She heard this on FOX)

I found it on another message board. Apparantly it IS true, but it was a long time ago, when he was fourteen and during WWII. I'm willing to forgive, for several reasons. Number one - HE WAS FOURTEEN! Aren't we all a little impressionable a that age? And not to mention during that time period you either had to be a sympathizer to Hitler's cause or you got shipped off. That's a huge motivation for anyone fourteen or no. I seriously doubt that he still shares Hitler's ideaoligies.

In re Joseph Ratzinger’s WWII past:

From the BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4445279.stm

“At the age of 14, he joined the Hitler Youth, as was required of young Germans of the time, but was not an enthusiastic member.

His studies at Traunstein seminary were interrupted during World War II when he was drafted into an anti-aircraft unit in Munich.

He deserted the German army towards the end of the war and was briefly held as a prisoner of war by the Allies in 1945.“

Thanks yall. That eases my mind.

LONG LIVE THE POPE!!!