• MudMan@fedia.io
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    I am surpringly annoyed about Americans somehow finding a way to make this about themselves.

    In reality I’m much more worried about the likely counterreformist pushback that is likely about to happen. We’re about to find out if a remarkably powerful organization’s leader was able to seed enough support to secure a politically aligned successor, and if the answer is “no” a bunch of organizations are about to get even more ruthlessly conservative at a time when a new strain of fascism is seeking moral support. The Catholic Church has been here before. It didn’t go well.

      • Microw@lemm.ee
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        The catch is that he did not appoint by ideology. His appointments were mainly based on the guys doing work for poor people, for migrants, and on them doing their jobs in the global south.

        Quite a few of these he made cardinals are somewhat conservative in their views, especially regarding sexuality

        • Emtity_13@lemmy.sdf.org
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          It helps a bit that typically those that have more compassion tend to be more liberal, but in general even the more liberal Catholics tend to be somewhat conservative

          • Microw@lemm.ee
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            I mean, there are catholic priests and officials that are very liberal - they do exist. But those people do usually not even get into a position as a bishop, so they are not on the table to potentially become cardinals.

    • philpo@feddit.org
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      Yeah. It’s more than annoying, especially as it’s the same old Vance joke again and again and again. Which isn’t even clever.

      I am not a Christian by any means but I worked with them quite often. Francis did change a lot of things and while he wasn’t in no way perfect - he did have his drawbacks, for a fucking pope he was much better than anyone before him within the last few hundred years. People (especially on the internet)nowadays expect other people, especially political leaders to “check all their boxes” and if one thing is not going as far as they want, they are alienated.

      Often I have the impression that as long as someone is not going “all the way” in the right direction they are seen as bad as someone who does not do anything at all or goes in the wrong direction. (Which is ironic because the church itself has evolved past the “saint or sinner” directive)

      Francis has been going in the right direction probably 60% of the way and 10% in the wrong direction. Is the Catholic church there yet? No. Is there a big chance it might turn back? Yes. Would he been elected if he was so reformist it was sure he would topple everything and go 100%? Surely not.

      But he did much more than any of his predecessors did.

      Any much more most commenters do.

      Besides: It’s okay to feel sorry for an old man dying. That’s called fucking compassion. I work in healthcare and have seen a lot of people die. I feel sorry for almost all of them.

      In the end a human has died. Period.

      • Not a replicant@lemmy.world
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        much better than anyone before him within the last few hundred years

        John XXIII was pretty progressive, wouldn’t you think?

      • barneypiccolo@lemm.ee
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        I don’t feel that sorry when an old person dies, they’ve lived their life, and dying is a natural part of the cycle. I do feel bad for those they left behind, who will miss them dearly.

        I feel worst for young people who die before their time, and never got to experience the life they planned for, that’s a true tragedy.

      • peteyestee@feddit.org
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        The joke about Vance killing him? I don’t think people mean it as a joke. That’s how the mob-like tactics work. It’s a very real consideration. Organized crime is intertwined deeply in American government and geopolitics.

        Shit even the Vatican was wrapped up in mafia stuff in the past and probably still is.

        Sorry but I used AI for this;

        "The Vatican has been associated with mafia connections, particularly during the papacies of Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul II. These connections have been linked to financial scandals and criminal activities involving figures like Michele Sindona and Roberto Calvi. Sindona, a reputed international mafia chieftain, was appointed as the Vatican banker by Pope Paul VI, leading to significant financial disasters and frauds. Calvi, the head of Banco Ambrosiano, was also deeply involved in money laundering and had ties to the mafia and the Vatican Bank under the leadership of Archbishop Paul Marcinkus. Marcinkus faced criticism from Pope John Paul II’s inner circle but was protected by the Pope, highlighting the complex relationships within the Vatican during this period.

        In recent years, efforts have been made to address these issues. The Vatican created a working group in honor of Rosario Livatino, a Catholic judge killed by the mafia, to study the expulsion of criminal organizations from the Catholic Church. These initiatives reflect ongoing efforts to separate the Church from criminal influences and to promote integrity within its financial and organizational structures.

        The Vatican’s financial dealings have long been a source of scandal and embarrassment, contributing to a “black legend” that mars the Church’s image. Pope Francis has been particularly active in reforming Vatican finances, centralizing control over Vatican assets to reduce the risk of corruption and illegal activities.

        Despite these efforts, concerns about mafia influence persist, with investigations and arrests involving mafia members and their alleged cooperation with the Vatican Bank."

        And trump…

        "Donald Trump has been linked to organized crime figures throughout his career. He has been accused of doing business with and receiving favors from the Mafia during his early years as a developer in New York City. For instance, Trump used concrete supplied by companies controlled by the Mafia to build his properties, including Trump Tower, at a time when the concrete industry was under Mafia control.

        Trump’s lawyer, Roy Cohn, had ties to several Mafia bosses, and Cohn introduced Trump to some of these figures. Trump also had business dealings with individuals who had connections to organized crime, such as John Staluppi, a “made” member of the Colombo crime family, and Kenneth Shapiro, who worked for Philadelphia mobster Nicodemo “Little Nicky” Scarfo.

        In 2013, Trump admitted on David Letterman’s show that he had encountered “characters” associated with organized crime during his time in New York, but claimed he tried to stay away from them.

        These allegations have been detailed in various books and articles, including Wayne Barrett’s biography “Trump: The Deals and the Downfall” and a book titled “‘MAFIA’ Don: Donald Trump’s 40 years of Mob ties” by H.B. Glushakow."

        Organized crime is a key player in national and geopolitics. It never went away, they got better at it. And corrupted officials got better at hiding them. America is probably currently dominated by organized crime right now.

        There are four main rulers of humanity, nations/politicians, organized religions, 1% wealth business, and organized crime. They all mingle and all manipulate the poor and vulnerable to gather followers, soldiers, and sycophants in order to maintain control. It’s very real war happening.

        • antonim@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          Oh yeah, the death of an 88-year-old man who has been suffering from serious medical issues for months is so odd and unexpected that it is more reasonable to propose that the vice-president of the US personally killed him.

      • Prandom_returns@lemm.ee
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        I’m entitled to not feel sorry for the unelected ruling class dying. Whether it’s the queen, or it’s the pope.

        Both brought more misery than did good. The existance of them both were a net negative to the world.

        Fuck the church.

      • barneypiccolo@lemm.ee
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        Great post. Holding the leash on the next Pope would be a huge strategic coup for the MAGA Nazis, and too much of a temptation to resist. There are no coincidences in politics, and dropping dead immediately after Couchfucker’s visit is to close to not be suspicious.

        I expect a full court press by the MAGA Nazis to have their hand-picked creep as the next Pope, and they will make all sorts of threats to accomplish it. In the end, if the Vatican chooses someone other than the MAGA Nazi candidate, Catholics will suddenly become one more persecuted political democraphic in America.

    • garfaagel@sh.itjust.works
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      I don’t expect a conservative backlash, on the contrary Francis’s Pontificate has weakened the conservative wing considerably. Given that 80% of the voting cardinals were appointed by Pope Francis, I would expect them to elect a successor that continues in the same direction, perhaps even a more radical one.

      During his pontificate Francis also made a lot of efforts to bring in new groups into the corridors of power. Not only by his appointment of cardinals, but also e.g. by reforming the Curia with Praedicate evangelium.

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        Compared to the iron grip the reactionaries held before my understanding is you’re right. That doesn’t mean that wing is going to get away with a continuist choice. I mean, it’s more likely than it used to be, but I’m not making a call until the Habemus Papam.

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      As a non-Catholic American, I have the same worry for the global geopolitics. It just so happens that the united states is part of those geopolitics.

    • venusaur@lemmy.world
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      It sure feels like the tides are turning conservative everywhere, but apparently a Filipino progressive is a favorite to be next

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        We’ll see where it goes. They aren’t exactly transparent about these things, and they’ve been arguing among themselves for a while. We’ll know with the white smoke, I suppose.

      • Microw@lemm.ee
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        There is a roman saying, “the one who enters conclave as the pope [to be] leaves it as a mere cardinal”

      • Saleh@feddit.org
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        I think in terms of the church the term “conservative” does not necessarily align with the political understanding. The largest shift in the church is demographic. White Europeans are loosing power rapidly in the catholic church. Subsequently the catholic church will align less and less with “Western” conservatives, and their imperialist understanding of geopolitics.

        I expect to see much more opposition of “christian conservative” politicians in Europe towards the catholic church.
        Ironically just yesterday the president of the German federal parliament of the “christian conservative” CDU told the Churches to shut up about politics.

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            She is describing herself as catholic though and even studied catholic theology.Her attack was directed at all churches, not just the catholic church.

            More specifically she said “the churches shouldn’t be another NGO” and then gave examples as to what they shouldn’t talk about. So the idea is already that "NGO"s are something bad and civil society voicing political stances is bad. But then religious institutions commenting on how politics are in violation of the values the religion teaches, seems to be particularly disdained. This is also historically worrisome as the churches in the GDR used to be hailed for taking a stance against the regime and there is a lot of stories, how the churches in the third Reich would have taken stance, although i am not sure if the ratio of opposition/silence/collaboration is accurately represented in those stories.

    • Higgs boson@dubvee.org
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      I am surpringly annoyed about Americans somehow finding a way to make this about themselves

      Me too, bud. Me. Too. Alas, there is no escaping them for me. I do wish more Americans could travel abroad and see the world beyond our borders. I would wager fewer than 20% of Americans have been 50 miles from our borders and it can lead to a pretty insular world view.

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          Europe. We have a history of stripping power from christianity, and we’ll continue till there’s nothing left if necessary.

          So yeah, just be powerless, it’s just a religion.

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            Europe has a history of stripping power from Christianity? Like, Europe Europe?

            Is this some other Europe I don’t know about? There may be an Europe I entirely missed somewhere, I suppose. Because the Europe I know took a millenia to marginally diminish the power of Christianity, and it only happened because of liberal democracy quietly supplanting spirituality for convenience. It was in no way, shape or form a political choice based on them “misbehaving”.

            I mean, even if that was true, which hah, nah, the places where the Catholic church is growing these days are in Africa and Asia. Stop making me have to lump Europeans with the gross ethnocentrism of USmericans.

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              I can’t really take it serious when Belgium is labeled as catholic Christianity majority.

              The majority of practicing religious people are Muslim.

              The churches are empty.

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                For one thing, Belgium is like 2% of the EU, so barely representative. For another, being actively practicing is less relevant than how much political influence is wielded and how many institutions are baked into the legal and political system to align with a particular worldview.

                And for another another, this isn’t about Europe (or the US) much at all. They matter way less than the countries trying to secure a semblance of civil rights in the context of an increasing interference from Western-originated religions using them as breeding grounds for retrograde conservatism.

                So you are very welcome to remain oblivious and pretend you have culturally overcome the footprint of Christianity (which again, hah, nah), but that has zero bearing on the relevance of these events.

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                  Yeah sure it impacted our culture. But nobody believes in Christianity anymore. There’s a political party dying because they have Christian in their name. Their voters literally keep dying year after year.

                  Haven’t really heard anyone talk about this religion the past 10 years.

                  I’ve heard a lot about Islam though, because of immigrants. Like god damn these people actually still believe in a deity.

                  Anyways, have fun with your religion stuff. Keep it out of belgium

      • yeahiknow3@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        Cultism is such a potent tendency of the human animal that new cults form spontaneously in the absence of established mythologies (or despite them). Fascism is a cult phenomenon, for instance, and the people vulnerable to such belief systems are unerringly broken in the same way that religious people are broken. It’s like someone scooped out the part of their brains responsible for maintaining epistemic norms and replaced it with oatmeal.

      • Microw@lemm.ee
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        You should know that lots of countries and societies will not do this. Especially in the global south.

    • LouSlash@sh.itjust.works
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      I am surpringly annoyed about Americans somehow finding a way to make this about themselves

      And turning it into politics, because there is no otger way to talk about things

      Sure, discussing politics is important to some degree, but it isn’t the most important thing in our lifes

      One of the most important persons in the world (atleast for catholics) has died. We shouldn’t laugh about it. We shouldn’t politicize it. We shouldn’t take it to any other context.

      I’m surprised and sad at the same time. Even tho i like edgy memes and memes about Pope John Paul II (he is a legend in Poland and polish community do meme about him but in a very respectful way), i really find it bad to do so about Pope Francis right now - so i dislike any post like this

      • MudMan@fedia.io
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        It is literally a political position. There’s about to be an election to choose the next guy.

        I agree that it is serious in that it’s going to have an impact on people’s lives, far beyond the relatively small direct power they have. That concerns me.

        To be clear, I have zero respect for the institution, but I care about how they wield the influence they have, and I’d much rather have a relatively progressive guy like Francis than a relative reactionary like John Paul II, with all due respect to Polish pride. I’m assuming we can at least agree on taking him over Benedictus.

      • Saleh@feddit.org
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        The church is political. The church should be political. Francis pushed for the church to take more of a stance and it rubbed “christian conservatives” the wrong way, because their political goals are a mockery of the values Jesus preached.

        • Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works
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          I agree the church is political and should be open about it, and pay taxes like any other political organization. Not just the Catholic Church but all denominations, and across the religions and around the world.

    • Hawk@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      Honestly, it’s not even hat far fetched. He probably denied visits because he was in bad health, yet Americans probably pushed to meet anyway

      • smeenz@lemmy.nz
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        I believe the pope met with the UK PM and one other dignitary the previous day, so he wasn’t denying all visits.

        Edit: … and he did meet with Vance the next day.

    • d00phy@lemmy.world
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      I would imagine they have some beautiful, world class couches in the Vatican. I can only imagine what the Pope walked in on!

    • yannic@lemmy.ca
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      Political extremists aren’t always the best at differentiating between correlation and causation. Let’s see how this plays out.

      • Queen HawlSera@lemm.ee
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        Conspiracy theorists are already making new theories about Vance killing the Pope for refusing to “Play ball” with the Trump Agenda

    • bamboo
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      JD Vance: “How long have you worked here?”

    • ssfckdt
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      His last words: “Dear Father in heaven, that unsufferable man!”

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      I actually saw a headline yesterday about how the Pope “ghosted” JV Dunce. 😫👻

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    Guys. Joe Biden is Catholic. The Vatican has an opportunity to do the funniest thing ever.

    • Glytch@lemmy.world
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      It’s a funny thought, but he’s not a cardinal or even a priest. Not just any Catholic can be Pope.

      Edit: turns out, yes, any Catholic can theoretically be pope

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        Uhm, pretty sure being a baptized Catholic is pretty much the only requirement…

        From Wikipedia:

        The pope does not need to be a cardinal elector or indeed a cardinal; since the pope is the bishop of Rome, only those who can be ordained a bishop can be elected, which means that any male baptized Catholic is eligible.

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        They once made a monk Pope I know, I’m not sure if he was also a priest. Certainly wasn’t a cardinal though I think that was one of the arguments in favor of him.

      • Freshparsnip@lemm.ee
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        Actually officially any male catholic can be pope, it’s just in practice cardinals always choose one of their own

    • Snowclone@lemmy.world
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      They are really unlikely to support a non cleric. All the decision makers sacrificed a lot of typical life time activities to be clerics, they aren’t going to lift up sometime who hasn’t also made these sacrifices.

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        I didn’t say they would. I said they could. Jokes aside, I would be VERY surprised if old Joe got picked for this, both for the reasons you mentioned and because of the decline he’s been going through recently.

        • ByteJunk@lemmy.world
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          For the past 600 years, the pope has always been a cardinal.

          The last time someone other than a cardinal was elected was 1296, they elected some monk who was something of a holy figure. It was a clusterf*"#, lasted 5 months and every decision he made was reversed by it’s successor except for one (the right for pope’s to abdicate). Which kinda sounds like Bidens term in office, but let’s not give him another chance at being useless, ok?

          (There were some other non-cardinals after, but all of them clergy, and mostly during or shortly after the Avignon papacy)

    • Stovetop@lemmy.world
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      As others have said, Francis also stacked the electors who will be deciding the next pope, so it is possible that his successor will also be just as progressive (well, progressive for the leader of a conservative religious institution, at least).

    • scarabic@lemmy.world
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      Yeah, he ALMOST restored the office of Pope to relevancy :D

      When his draconian successor inevitably comes along, we can go back to ignoring the papacy again.

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      Some gold from that document:

      In this context, some people continue to defend trickle-down theories which assume that economic growth, encouraged by a free market, will inevitably succeed in bringing about greater justice and inclusiveness in the world. This opinion, which has never been confirmed by the facts, expresses a crude and naïve trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power and in the sacralized workings of the prevailing economic system.

      Would be funny to make a quote collection titled “Who said this? Pope Francis or a socialist?”

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      For the time he had, the distance he brought the Church is pretty impressive. I will go to my grave believing that organized religion does more harm than good, nothing they ever do will change my mind. That said, he really was an agent for positive change, especially compared to Darth Benedict, who preceded him.

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    Gfdi. I’m not religious, but knowing that Catholics are going to choose a new Pope, I can only look forward to more bad news of comformity to godawful world news in the form of a shitty New Pope who inspires and empowers all the shitty people.

    Great, one more thing to make the world even worse.

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      There’s some hope… part of Francis’ papacy involved him promoting more open-minded cardinals (who are the ones who choose popes) but we’ll see

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        We can hope.

        But also: “papacy”? Sounds like a dynamic I need in my life (:

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      My sincere hope is that the Catholic Church looks at how they were perceived under Benedict—a staunchly conservative Pope that led to massive losses in respect, attendance, and relevance; and how they were perceived under Francis—an actually compassionate and humble servant of the Church and its people. And based on that, they choose another Pope who’s in the same vein as Francis to continue bringing the Church into this century. There is still decades of work to be done, but we absolutely can’t go backwards right now.

    • HipHoboHarold@lemmy.world
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      Im waiting for all the articles whe we he said something nice about gay people, so hes super progressive and we should be nice to the church cause they like us

      Only to go to the comments where someone points out the next sentence he said was we are still going to hell

      • SCmSTR
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        They’re the ones that invented hell in the first place. That’s being the gatekeeper of your own imaginative fuck-you land, you can do whatever you want since it doesn’t even exist in the first place.

        Oh hey if you beat your children and don’t support people that support trans people you’re going to urusjsttisstiidtiyd after you die and it sucks and people punch you in the face and it smells like shit and jd vance sticks his fingers in your mouth randomly and it’s all the worst stuff you can imagine and it curses your family forever and if you do support trans people with everything and don’t worry i can read your thoughts i mean the super powerful all powerful everywhere all the time in everything force person called odyysiid5tditkxhck can read your thoughts and knows if you’re being bad or even considering it or thinking about anything bad.

        ^ religion, my new one that you should follow, also you go to the good place where all your dreams come true and you can be with all your loved ones forever and there’s all the things you want trust me bro you want this and not the bad forever ending. It’s called RaulingSucksDurt-ism and it’s real and all the other religions aren’t real and they’re all actually going to urusjsttisstiidtiyd for not even believing. The best thing you can do actually is to show them the light and save them from urusjsttisstiidtiyd because that’s bad and you want to be good right? The other religions just lie to you and it’s actually the leader of urusjsttisstiidtiyd whispering in their ear and they’re all victims bro, help them bro before it’s too late, they’re all bad bro help them with your love

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        Battle Pope! With flying “Rocket Papal Punch” action! Only $12.25 at your nearest Vatican.

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    Looks like it’s time for another pope race. I would like to throw my hat in the ring. As a lapsed Catholic trans woman who’s never so much as visited a seminary, I know I’m an unorthodox choice. But maybe it’s time to mix things up. My central campaign planks? We’re going to bring back indulgences and try to make the Papal States a thing again. Also, expect skits and improv sessions to have a big place in Catholic mass in the future!

      • ssfckdt
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        6 days ago

        But according to TERFs and fash, she is a guy though

          • WoodScientist@sh.itjust.works
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            6 days ago

            I promise to spend the entire papacy dressed in dresses that look like they belong in the White Tower scenes in the Wheel of Time series.

      • Queen HawlSera@lemm.ee
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        6 days ago

        This, in the Catholic Church, transwomen actually do count as women. Recent ruling, they’re against “Gender Ideology”, whatever the fuck that means, but make exceptions for transpeople due to Francis ruling gender dysphoria a geniune medical issue that is exempt from rules against whatever “Gender Ideology” is

      • Stovetop@lemmy.world
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        6 days ago

        Without going into spoilery details, the film Conclave raised a very interesting question about pope eligibility. Recommend checking it out, not just for the topical relevance but also simply because it’s a good movie.

    • nickiwest@lemmy.world
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      6 days ago

      Your candidacy would put the Church in quite a predicament, for sure. They could either embrace a trans woman as a leader (confirming that there’s nothing wrong with trans people) or reject her for being a woman (therefore admitting that one can, in fact, change their gender).

      Of course, this is a false dichotomy, but a good PR team could spin it as a human rights win either way.

      • Sidhean@lemmy.world
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        6 days ago

        I don’t think they did. In the bible, Jesus died Friday afternoon and rose Sunday morning. That’s pretty close to two days- just over a day and a half, depending on when God yoinked his son’s spirit.

        The tradition took place over three days, but we’ll know if he’s a’risin’ by the day and a half mark.

        • scarabic@lemmy.world
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          6 days ago

          Well done! As Martin Luther King Jr said:

          “Love cannot drive out pedantry, only more pedantry can do that”

    • WhiteRabbit@lemmy.today
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      6 days ago

      He even opted out of the traditional, expensive papal funeral and requested to just be laid in state and then buried in a wooden coffin lined with zinc.

        • RedFrank24@lemmy.world
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          6 days ago

          It’s a fairly common lining for coffins that you’re gonna either transport internationally or put in mausoleums. It keeps the body preserved for longer and takes about 100 years to break down.

      • TankovayaDiviziya@lemmy.world
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        6 days ago

        You joke but there is a genuine possibility that the Vatican might elect someone who is more conservative, if not very so. The Vatican under Francis had been the most progressive it had been in decades. And it ruffled the feathers of many conservative clergies.

      • rambling_lunatic@sh.itjust.works
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        6 days ago

        According to the article, the context for the flashy headline is that all Catholics are children of God and that all must be treated with compassion, while still acknowledging that pedophiles are monsters.

        I will not pretend that Francis’s hands are totally clean. He has mistreated abuse cases in the past. Around 2019 he actually started implementing some reforms that have to some extent helped. While I don’t think he did enough, he did much more than his predecessors. I highly suspect the next pope will be another Benedict and not another Francis. Consequently, I suspect that the mishandling will get worse.