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1. A pope the people want? I hope we get a pope the people need.

   Posted By: Phillip Turnbull

2. The Pope is the Vicar of Christ on Earth; and successor to St Peter, the first Vicar.
   The Pope is responsible to be Christ's representative on Earth; to lead the Church (the people of faith) to him (Jesus).
   And he (Pope) is not here to give us what we want; but what Jesus wants for us; and that is to lead us to Eternal Life in Heaven.
   Thus the Pope has to discern what Jesus wants for us; not what we want for ourselves.

   Posted By: anthony loh

3. We appear to have become a culture of 'wants'.
   May the Holy Spirit (who has the ultimate say) send us a Pope we need to lead the Church in the Truth.
   Fortunately, God is in control, whether this is understood by people or not!

   Posted By: P Eddy

4. Like Louise Macdonald from Glasgow, I'd like to see a pope prepared to tackle current issues like women priests, married priests and discuss whether priesthood should be full-time and/or lifelong.
   In today's society many retirees in their mid-50's to early 60's have a lot to offer their local church communities - as was the case in the early church - and this option should be examined.
   Here in Australia the shortage of priests is at crisis point and we need a church open and honest enough to discuss these issues and to look for solutions.
   But most importantly, we need more democratic structures within the church; national churches need more independence to address local issues and to be inclusive of the views and opinions of local catholics.
   Perhaps its time to start some further reform of the 1983 Code of Canon Law, to acknowledge the existence of national churches and to make more use of diocesan synods which are inclusive of the laity and their views.

   Posted By: John Edwards

5. There is a cardinal dreesed in the habit of St Francis, a simple cord around his waist, wearing sandals even during the northern winter, living in a one-room apartment having sold the episcopla palace to compensate those abused during the term of the previous incumbent.
   We need a man who in the spirit of St Francis has set about to 'rebuild my church'.
   Cardinal Shaun O'Malley of Boston USA!

   Posted By: Fr Robert (Fr Bob Flaherty)

6. A study of the Popes throughout history will reveal that the Holy Spirit has a strange way of installing some perplexing choices on the chair of Peter.
   Like Thomas, I doubt; I doubt that the Holy Spirit has much to do with it. Within that doubt, however, I pray for whoever is chosen by the cardinals that he will open the windows and doors, let in the fresh air just like the most beloved pope in all of history did in 1958.

   Posted By: Jeff Kevin

7. According to scriptures, God has given us both talents and a free will to make decisions.
   Surely, the electors take this into consideration and let the spirit guide them in accordance with the needs of the poeple of God.
   Plenty has been written as to what type of person we need. It is now up to the cardinals to chose wisely.
   A younger 21st Century version of J23?

   Posted By: Peter M

8. A Pope that gets with the times, you say?
   Jesus didn't compromise with those of His times, just to please the opinion and culture back then.
   And neither should the Pope.
   Jesus was prepared to lose all human support rather than compromise the truth He was imparting to them and us (John 6:67)

   Posted By: Chris

9. God, Christ and the Church make demands on us.
   We are expected to be self-sacrificing, courageous in the face of widespread hostility to what the church stands for, and a light to the world - a world which certainly needs firm guidance, not cowardly conformity to its 'progressive' values.
   Talk of women priests, contraception and being more inclusive is not what I want to hear.
   My greatest concern is the lack of faithfulness and courage by far too many of our priests, bishops and theologians.
   My hope is that the next pope will be strong in support of the teaching authority of the church, will strive to bring unity within the church by doing so and by make it abundantly clear to all the so-called liberals, progressives (in reality, dissenters) that they should either get with the program or leave us in peace.

   Posted By: Robert

10. Anthony Loh: Are all popes the vicar of Christ and successor of Peter?
    Even the likes of pope John XII?

    Posted By: Francis

11. Sad to see the main focus for some is women priests and married priests.
    My prayer is that the Holy Spirit will bless and guide those charged with the task of electing our new Pope, that it will be a man capable of leading the Catholic Curch through the dysfunctional and confronting days ahead in order to bring healing to the abused, abusers, all the wonderful bishops, priests and faithful affected by this issue.
    Then reform as to the way ahead will follow, according to God's holy will.

    Posted By: Pat

12. To say past Popes were all of Christ's choosing must be wrong if you study their history. We have had Popes in the early days who did many terrible things.
    I think God has sent his message to us all, but that many of the Cardinals have their own agenda.
    I pray for a humble and inclusive leader for our church. One that leaves the judging up to God and one that practices fairness, love and acceptance.
    I agree with Father Robert, Saint Francis of Assisi is the best example we could ask for. However, we have strayed far away from that humble man who was more like Jesus than any Pope I have read about.
    Jesus did not live in riches and embraced all people, especially the women, sinners and meek.
    I don't feel confident about the outcome.

    Posted By: Cate Wallace

13. The church is going through tough times with many issues requiring urgent and satisfactory solutions. The decision of the frail Pope Benedict XVI to step down is to be viewed as God's plan to find an immediate solution through a Pope he has in mind for the changing world.
    The duty of the faithful now is to pray to God to inspire the holy men who are charged with the responsibility of electing such a pope.

    Posted By: Aloysius Aseervatham

14. What sort of person they want for their successsor to Benedict XVI?
    If that is the way The Tablet posed the question, of course people are going to respond according to their wants.
    If the question had been 'What sort of person do they think the catholic church needs today?', then they would need to know something about the state of the universal church and the state of the Roman Curia - two subjects that could occupy social scientists for months to categorise.
    Most catholics, I guess, would answer the question with the state of the church in their nation and/or diocese and/or parish in mind.
    Very few would know much about the Roman Curia - even after the leaking of Benedict's butler exposed a bureaucratic in-fighting and suppression of information flow reminiscent of the USSR under Stalin.
    Except in Benedict's case, officials tried to ensure that he was the last to know.
    As a former trade union official where my role was to represent employees and ensure that their pay and conditions were fair and equitable, I am only too well aware that power, prestige and pecuniary interest can divert one from one's primary purpose.
    As the Vicar of Christ, I hope and pray that the next Pope is man (no choice there) of faith in the Holy Spirit, with the courage to change the things that he discerns need changing, and wise enough to know how and when to act decisively.
    May God bless him abundantly.

    Posted By: Joe

15. This is all a bit funny in a sad kind of way. There are so many people who simply leave Christ out of the equation. It's all about what He wants, not what the people want.
    It's good to see that there are at least four people here who realise this.

    Posted By: Paul Keen

16. Francis: The short answer is yes.
    Your question suggests that you confuse Christ's gift of the infallibilty of the Petrine office on faith and morals with an unjustified expectation of a pope's personal impeccabilty.

    Posted By: John

17. My family and I was surprised when we heard of the Pope resigned.
    I hope the new Pope just like Pope Benedict will be strict and bring back the old tradition of the catholics and be firm in this decision.
    Nowadays wrong is right; that's where the culture of death comes in the families.
    Women priests? No way.
    Married Priests? No way.
    Not acceptable.

    Posted By: Susan Garcia

18. This is new for me... I have never blogged before but I feel very strongly that we need to pray that the Cardinals at the conclave will allow the Holy Spirit to guide them.

    Posted By: Joanna Green

19. John: How could the likes of John XII be the Vicar of Christ when they were more of an anti-Christ.
    Being in mortal sin, they were separated from grace.
    Jesus says: By your fruits they will know that you are my disciples.
    Where a bishop of Rome does not bear Christ's fruit, he is not a Vicar of Christ.
    You seem to think that pope's are automatically infallible in everything.
    In fact, there have only been about two infallible statements...

    Posted By: Francis

20. Susan Garcia: The Church has always had married priests so your 'no way' seems out of step with Church.

    Posted By: Francis

21. Francis: People, including popes, can be sinful - even hypocritical - without formally denying true doctrine in faith and morals, in a way sacraments celebrated by priest in a state of grave sin can be valid.
    I don't know whence you gain the notion that I regard the pope to be
    'infallible in everything'.
    The pope's infallibilty is limited to ex cathedra teaching on faith and morals.
    What are the grounds for your idea that there have only been 'about two infallible statements'?

    Posted By: John

22. John: Well, how many infallible statements have there been?
    Jesus is looking for more than true doctrine.
    You seem to be ignorant of what is required of us as disciples, and any pope is called to be a disciple.
    
    I doubt Jesus is interested in true doctrine if it ignores true practise and if it produces evil fruit... Popes who have had people tortured and killed, for example, were not living as disciples.
    This has nothing to do with sacraments. Those who live disgraceful lives are doing exactly that, viz, living without grace.
    Pope Benedict IX (1032-1044, again in 1045 and finally 1047-1048) was said to have conducted a very dissolute life during his papacy. He was accused by Bishop Benno of Piacenza of 'many vile adulteries and murders.'
    Pope Victor III referred in his third book of Dialogues to 'his rapes, murders and other unspeakable acts. His life as a Pope so vile, so foul, so execrable, that I shudder to think of it.'
    It prompted St. Peter Damian to write an extended treatise against sex in general, and homosexuality in particular.
    In his Liber Gomorrhianus, St Peter Damian recorded that Benedict
    'feasted on immorality'
    and that he was 'a demon from hell in the disguise of a priest', accusing Benedict IX of routine sodomy and bestiality and sponsoring orgies.
    In May 1045, Benedict IX resigned his office to pursue marriage, selling his office for 1,500 pounds of gold to his godfather, the pious priest John Gratian, who named himself Pope Gregory VI.
    (from Wikipedia)
    Is such a pope as Benedict IX a true Vicar of Christ and successor of Peter?

    Posted By: Francis

23. Qua pope, Francis, yes, for reasons based on a distinction that you do not appear to recognise.
    As for numbers of infallible statements, please answer the question.

    Posted By: John

24. John: I have no idea what your response means. What are you saying? Your last sentence is particularly baffling. Sorry, you've lost me.

    Posted By: Francis

25. Francis: The distinction I refer to is between that which is true (formal Church teaching) and the Petrine office, on the one hand, and, on the other, the personal moral status of the papacy's occupant at a particular time (which does not affect formal Church teaching); e.g., the humanity and divinity of Christ remain true, irrespective of any morally reprobate pope.
    My question simply alerts you to the onus of proof: since you made a numerical claim about infallible statements, it is your responsibility to produce evidence for it.

    Posted By: John

26. Surprise resignation but a good thing as JPII hung on into ineffectiveness. New Pope should be good pastoral man as that is what most Catholics yearn for.
    Being erudite and master of diplomacy are good assets but we need a leader in faith. More collegiality with a lower influence of the Curia, more inclusiveness and an open mind on married priests or even priests of limited tenure, including a higher profile of women be it as priests or deacons.
    The Holy Spirit will be counted on to play a major part in the selection process.

    Posted By: Paul Gubbels

27. John: But then the divinity and humanity of Christ were not defined by any pope. The truths of Christianity do not depend on the papacy.
    In fact I have read that there were heretical popes. Did the cardinals not run Pope John XII out of Rome?
    You seem to suggest that the mortal sins of popes are of no consequence.
    Surely, Jesus disagrees with you as does the New testament. Does not Jesus say that not everyone who says to me 'Lord, Lord', will enter the kingdom of heaven but the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. He seems to suggest that doing the Fathers will is of utmost importance.
    And does not James remind us that faith without works is dead?
    I do not have to prove the numerical number of infallible statements since no one seems to know how many there were. You don't seem to know how many there have been. You seem to suggest that every papal statement is infallible.

    Posted By: Francis

28. We need a Pope who will be strong on the teaching of the church in regards to morals and belief, and will be firm with any decenting Bishops, Priests, or religious.
    He must alsos be approachable by all people ( allowing for his security)

    Posted By: Eric Morgan

29. Francis: Popes do not invent Church teaching, but in exercising magisterial office ex cathedra in the areas I have indicated - and only these areas - they confirm and guarantee its status and truth within the Apostolic tradition derived from Christ.
    Nowhere have I suggested all papal statements are infallible, and I would not have thought my word 'reprobate' in any way suggested the inconsequentiality of a pope's sinful actions.
    I simply say they have no bearing on the truths themselves of the faith they uphold - truths which existed before the bible was composed.
    I might add, though it is not integral to the point at issue, that credit should be given to the good and saintly popes who have succeeded Peter: your selection is remarkably narrow.

    Posted By: John

30. John: And what ex cathedra statements have there been so that we might distinguish between ex cathedra statements and non-ex cathedra statements? Pope Boniface VIII in his Bull Unam Sanctam issued in 1302:
    We declare, say, define, and pronounce that it is absolutely necessary for the salvation of every human creature to be subject to the Roman Pontiff. That looks like an ex cathedra statement to me yet I doubt there are too many Catholics who would accept it today.
    What does it mean to be a successor of Peter?
    The consequence of a reprobate pope, surely, is that he is living in mortal sin and is, therefor, separated from grace, if my reading of the Catechism is correct.
    Popes do not guarantee the status and truth of a doctrine such as the divinity of Christ. The status and truth is confirmed by its witness in Scripture.
    My point was that true doctrine, without love etc, is meaningless. We will not be judged so much by the orthodoxy of our belief but by the orthopraxis of our lives.

    Posted By: Francis

31. Sinced scripture is your only rule of faith, Francis, how will you adjudicate different interpretations of it?
    And how will you assess 'orthopraxis' without orthodoxy.

    Posted By: John

32. It is not who people 'want' to have as a aucessor that should guide any outcome, but it is who God wants to have to guide his Church, and we pray for the Conclave to discern that.
    

    Posted By: meg

33. John: Who said scripture is my only rule of faith?
    How would you assess orthodoxy without orthopraxis?

    Posted By: Francis

34. Francis: Routinely, here and in other postings, you challenge authoritative Catholic teachings such as papal infallibillity and Petrine succession by recourse to scripture alone.
    Orthodoxy, as true teaching and right reason, has a senating function over action, which cannot evaluate itself.

    Posted By: John

35. John, where?
    I have challenged your sense of infallibility which seems to suggest that what ever a pope says is infallible.
    When I asked how many infallible statements have been made, you could not or would not answer. Your last sentence is very interesting although I have no idea what you mean by orthodoxy having a senating function over action.
    Your statement that orthopraxis cannot evaluate itself is nonsense since it is God who evaluates it.
    Remember, faith without works is dead. That is, orthodoxy without orthopraxy is dead.
    It is orthopraxy that evaluates orthodoxy.

    Posted By: Francis

36. Francis : I've made no claim about the number of infallible statements: I simply asked how you arrived at the number you advanced.
    I fail to see how your repetition of a single line from the Epistle of St James has logical bearing on the issue of papal infallibility, since truth is not negated by a person's' failure to live up to it.
    Your thinking is analogous to saying that because that because individuals commit larceny,moral prohibition of stealing is therefore invalid.
    Your employment of Scripture in this way simply supports what I have said about your use of it.
    Moreover, the fact that God evaluates action does not exclude humans from exercising this function by the application of God-given intellect to moral issues.

    Posted By: John

37. John: You must have some belief re the number of infallible statements. Have there been only two, or are there more?
    I advanced the number two because that is all I can conclude from sources. For example, St Anthony's Messneger states: Various people have gone backwards from 1870 and sometimes inaccurately labeled various statements as infallible. The pope's infallibility has been used only once since 1870.
    Catholic Bible 101 states: There have been 3 instances of an officially declared Papal Infallible doctrine.
    US Catholic states: There is no set list of ex cathedra teachings, but that’s because there are only two, and both are about Mary.
    The quote from James was never intended to be a comment on infallibility but to show that orthopraxsis is superior to orthodoxy.
    Your comment: Orthodoxy, as true teaching and right reason, has a senating function over action, which cannot evaluate itself would seem to indicate the opposite. You still have not explained what you mean by this statement.
    My use of scripture highlights the opposite of what you seem to believe.
    Your final sentence is confusing. What are you saying?

    Posted By: Francis

38. Francis: Since the Church declines to list infallible statements, why nominate any number at all, rather than examine papal teachings according to the specific conditions that determine their status?
    It seems to me that numeration based on secondary sources such as those you cite is calculated to minimalise legitimate papal authority, even though Catholics accept that the pope enjoys unique Petrine authority in matters of faith and morals.
    My final sentence is a reply to your assertion that God evaluates orthopraxis - so He does; but so, too, do we, when we exercise intelligence, particularly the intellectual operation of qualitative judgment in relation to praxis (action) - a function which has more to do with will (which is not self-reflexive) than intellect.

    Posted By: John

39. John: See, the confusion. Your attempt to evade such does not work.
    If infallibility is to be given any credence we must know which papal statements are infallible and which are not. The rest of your opening sentence is pure obfuscation.
    Where did Peter exercise such?
    My comment re orthopraxis having priority over orthodoxy stands.
    Jesus agrees too.

    Posted By: Francis

40. No, Francis, I'm afraid I don't see the confusion. What I do see is repeated assertion, little attempt to come to terms with answers offered, and now a retreat into a presumptuous claim that one can know what Jesus intends without the extraordinary and ordinary magisterium of the Church that has developed since Christ's conferral of his own authority in the power of the Holy Spirit on Peter, the Apostles and their successors.
    At this point I think we'll have to be content with agreeing to differ.

    Posted By: John

41. John: What answers have you offered? I see your diminishing of Sacred Scripture.
    I see your unwillingness to engage in debate in a constructive way.
    Of course one can know what Jesus intends by reading the Gospels or are they, in your view, worthless. Your claim that we cannot know what Jesus intends without the extraordinary and ordinary magisterium of the Church is, of course, nonsense.
    Don't forget Peter got it wrong. Does not Paul write that he condemned Peter to his face?
    There are many utterances of the magisterium that we no longer accept. The Syllabus of Errors is an example. The papal rulings that only RC's can be saved is another example.

    Posted By: Francis

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