The Petra Zone

All I have to say is this:

viva John Paul the Great.

Although I am a Lutheran, I will be praying for my Catholic brothers and sisters as they look for a new pope and as they remember the life of JPII.

It should be interesting.

Look for a hipper, less conservative choice this time around. The Catholic religion/church has faced all time lows in attendance and revenues.

How odd it must be to pick the "man" to be in the office of "God on earth".

and have read some theories that point the image of the Pope as the antichrist.

awwwwwwww but this one was sooooo nice, he had this grandfather look. I loved the title of today`s newspaper: he went back to His father`s house"

Actually Brent, only American Catholics are the ones who want a more �progressive� pope. The rest of the Catholic world is quite conservative and is reverting back to some pre-Vatican II days (which may not be a good thing in many ways, but beside the point right now). Anyway, while the Catholic Church is declining in many parts of the US it is growing in the south, mainly due to the Hispanic population, and they are also more traditional. Vocations for the priesthood are actually up in the rest of the world, especially the Philippines and South America.

I will be very surprised if a very radical reformer is elected to be the new pope. I think Rome has learned to ignore the liberal American Catholics just as they have learned to ignore Rome.

As a former Catholic I will admit I will never understand the Church leadership�s stubbornness to clean up and acknowledge the homosexual priest scandal, but I greatly respected Pope John Paul II. He was unwavering in his support of the sanctity of life and the cause of peace.