mamadeb

*Scared*

who's there?

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spiderine.livejournal.com

Lemmy.

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*Even more scared*

Lemmy who?

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spiderine.livejournal.com

Lemmy in! Don't you hear me knocking?

*sorry, best I could come up with on short notice*

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I'm almost always alone at the office. I used to spend half the day at the austen.com chatroom (There's a great quote from Emma there: "She found it easier to chat than to study,") but then I discovered lj. And now, my boss is onto me, so he's keeping me pretty busy all day. Gam zu l'tova. I was feeling pretty guilty about wasting his time. But I don't feel guilty about this post. I hope it was entertaining enough.

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I honestly would rather have work to do. Or at least pending.

But, well. :)

I used to spend the entire day in chat, too. I'm now not permitted to do that.

LJ keeps me sane.

Maybe I'll write something.

Let's see. Who's owed a story?

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darthfox.livejournal.com

[bats eyelashes]

(i don't actually know if you owe me a story. but feel free to write me one if you like. [g])

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Two things. One, I've written and am reviewing e-mails. (Yay, consciousness!)

Two, turn on your radio. There's a new Pope. Really.

Three, http://cowswithguns.com/cowmovie.html (flash movie, fun)

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I don't have a radio and it's not on yahoo news yet.

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Not yet announced. We should know shortly. All we know is bells and white smoke so far. Watch the news sites; it will be their top story

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It's Ratzinger.

Not who I was expecting, but I'm bad at handicapping these things.

Benedict XVI. I wonder if it means something - and it's going to be odd getting used to a different name.

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That's the German one? The one who's in favor of more de-centralization of the church?

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Yep. Hitler Youth as Loving Shepherd.

Feh.

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dorothy1901

There's a Wikipedia entry already. Love that 21st century speed.

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Apparently, there's this Prophecy of St. Malachy (http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2005/4/3/180901.shtml") which lists 112 from his time on. There are two (now one) left. The 111th prophecy says:

The 111th prophecy is "Gloria Olivae" (The Glory of the Olive). The meaning of the olive is unclear. The Order of Saint Benedict – not St. Malachy – has claimed that this pope will come from its ranks and Saint Benedict himself prophesied that before the end of the world his Order, known also as the Olivetans, will triumphantly lead the Catholic Church in its final fight against evil.

Makes his name choice very interesting indeed.

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Good. You got the one I forwarded from Harold?

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Yep. I actually got it twice; thanks for the forward, though.

Currently swearing nasty vehement language while praying for this papal reign to be identical to that of Pope John Paul I (or shorter). NOT able to concentrate.

Damn. Just when you think the world can't get scarier, it does.

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I'm talking to one of the agents, who is Catholic. She's politically conservative - voted for Bush and so on.

She's NOT happy. She wanted someone younger and non-European, and she doesn't think a conservative pope will have the answers she wants.

Benedict XV tried to create peace during WWI and was known for humanitarian efforts - and for being on the progressive side. So he chose an interesting name.

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kid-lit-fan.livejournal.com

Well, you can now entertain yourself by going "Nyahh!" to all the liberal Catholics you know. Or counting the facepalms.

Silly old Vatican II, anyway. Buncha hippie sissies! (Or maybe sissy hippies!)

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I'm mostly - he's not my religious leader. (Mine is a gentle, brilliant scholar who is currently not permitting me to use egg matzah on the Sabbath before Pesach, but who was thrilled when I completed a course of study.) So I don't have a right to comment.

But seeing the reactions of my friend here and of people online doesn't make me happy. For them.

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kid-lit-fan.livejournal.com

Oh, I know you're not getting any Schaudenfreude from it. We should be careful what we wish for. This morning, I was thinking, "Well, not much on lj, I can get to some serious cleaning. Then Benedict XVI came along and, pardon the expression, all hell broke lose. I've gotten and sent more comments today than in a long time.

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Well, *I* said I was bored.

Then I wasn't anymore. :)

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European doesn't bother me. Heck, German doesn't bother me.

Ratzinger -- Palpatine I, as I have been hearing around the net -- bothers me.

There are some apologist sites that claim he was Hitler Youth only reluctantly and by lack of choice. Except that some of his peers refused. And so should a man who would be Pope have that strength of character. And not be so narrow of mind as he's reputed to be.

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Inquisition bothers *me*. Big time.

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Why don't you believe the "apologists?" I read that his father was an anti-Nazi activist and that Ratzinger himself deserted the army in May 1945 at the risk of his life. It sounds admirable to me.

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From what I have been reading through the day, it sounds to me like the situation was this: joining the Hitler Youth was de jure required, and that de facto, he could have failed to do so without penalty (as indeed some of his peers did). However, there was a tuition bonus associated with joining, which he needed to pay for seminary.

In addition, while he is unquestionably intelligent, and seems to have integrity, he apparently has done an otherwise David Horowitz-like 180-degree turn from openminded to a narrow focus. Perhaps that's what being Defender of the Faith (or whatever the formal name of his recent office was; I understand it's essentially a direct-line descendent of Chief Inquisitor) does to one (or perhaps it's a requirement of the office). It's not comforting, either way.

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Now that's scary. One wonders why the Catholic Church has seen fit to maintain such an office over the centuries.

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Per this entry (http://www.livejournal.com/users/zsero/17049.html) by

zsero, I should note that the Roman Inquisition differs from the Spanish Inquisition.

The reasons for each's existence boil down to the same thing, though: to determine which beliefs and behaviors constitute heresy (that is, fall outside compatibility with Church dogma) and to remove those beliefs (and their holders, if necessary) from the Church.

Then-Cardinal Ratzinger did such a good job at this that he has earned the nickname God's Rottweiler. Straight-and-narrowminded folks worry me, and he has shown himself to be one of the most of those.

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Never knew anything about Benedict XV, but what's wrong with his given name Joseph, right from the Bible?

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It seems to be a tradition - that all Popes upon election choose a Papal name. JPII was Karol, for example.

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Really? I don't ever remember his being called that.

But anyway, I think it's a shame they didn't pick a Latin American. I heard someone on the radio making a good case for it. Latin America has the poorest yet largest and most devoted Catholic population worldwide. They need the chizuk as it were.

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