Not feeling like fooling anyone

[cabenson]

They have just announced that the pope has lost consciousness and I feel it is only a matter of hours before they announce his death. I feel the affects of this, in an emotional and religious way, yet I feel conflict because of my unfavorable opinions of The Church.

I was in the 7th grade when Pope John Paul 1 was elected and died 28 days later. Speculation as to the manner of his death (natural death vs. murder?) rivaled only the mourning the Sisters of Notre Dame displayed in my small town school. When Pope John Paul 2 was elected, I learned that he was a Pole (we were just learning about the struggle for Polish democracy),he was younger than most popes, and that most importantly to me, he was a writer, a poet.

I will always respect the pope for the man he was, and I can always hope that the new Catholic leader will open the faith to a new way of thinking...tolerance, gender equity, and common sense.

It is only a matter of hours.

Comments

[slammerkinbabe.livejournal.com]

I feel the same way. It's hard for me because I've been so opposed to so many things the Pope has done. But he's a man, and a man who always tried to do what he believed was right, I think. I have a lot of conflicting emotions about it, but mostly I just think it's sad.

But I don't think the new pope will be any different in his social views. The Church doesn't tend to promote liberal thinkers.

[zacheese.livejournal.com]

I'm sad that we're about to lose our leader, but...by the time I realized he was a person and not just the "head of the church," I honestly couldn't see him as anything but an old man who refused to move past the prejudices he'd grown up with. Unfortunately, the future isn't looking too good, either - rumor had it that the next in line may be the guy who wrote the "feminism = downfall of marriage" letter.

[sing1118.livejournal.com]

I have problems with the Church, for obvious and not-so-obvious reasons, but this is depressing, both because it's a sad situation and because it reminds me of what happened when my Granddad died in November. He was 88 and he had pneumonia, but he went into septic shock and everything just like the Pope is doing now.