Hmm

I dont agree that he was a good pope. The Paedophile scandal in America happened under his watch. The anti condom thing and its effects on AIDS in Africa is his shame. No I wont lament him.

I must add though that the behaviour of the vatican during the last few years of that Pope's life was disgraceful. Any other man of similar age and condition would be in a home being cared for. He would not be propped up at windows to speak, shipped about the world be held up as some sort of sick spectacle. They should have let him go gracefully. Severly sick with Parkinsons and being gawped at doddering about him and there shuffling along. I wouldnt treat an enemy of mine like that in his old age let alone a man I supposedly revere.

Which brings me to Catholicism. As a ex Catholic I do not like the celebrity of the Pope and the reverence of a man despite who his title stems from or his authority. He is only a man. Worship and tears and reverence should be reserved forGod through Jesusnot a man in a white robe.People should not be prostrating themselves and bawling for a man on earth. Where does God fit in? The status of the Pope grew and grew over the years and I belive the structure of the Vatican and the church itself to be incompatible with the spirit of the religion and its teachings. Catholics themselves should be thinking seriously about such things...

OK Just got home from work and am watching BBC news 24. Interviewing Catholics in America... They have statements like
"I hope the next Pope is not as conservative"
"The world has changed, the Vatican needs to change"
"People today dont follow all that strict doctrine anymore, the Pope should be more libeal"
Now is it me or is that retarded thinking?? That because the people and society has changed, the religion should follow? So if marriage became unfashionable then religion should no longer emphasise it?. They had Gay Catholic (oxymoron that) andother disenfranchisedCatholic groups obviously pleased at John Paul's death and hoping for a new different Pope, though they made all the right noises about being sorrowful LOL. They launched straight in to wishing the next Pope is radically different.
I have always said that religion follows people and social trends over a long timeie WE make up the rules and doctrine behind the book as we go along. Didnt expect religious people themselves to acknowledge it in such a way. Good grief!!