The best choice for pope? A nun

Yawn. Color me unsurprised. The morning I heard this news, I knew we Catholics were in for this kind of cr*p from now until the end of the Conclave and — depending on which man is elevated to Pope — beyond.

I’m not a Catholic, but doesn’t one have to be a priest in order to be a bishop? And the priesthood is only open to men.

Yes. But like liberals in politics, liberal Catholics have a vision: they get into power and ruthlessly do away with all the stuff they don’t like while mercilessly enforcing the rules they like and create. So the liberals will hope for a “liberal” Pope (or, in this case, a nun…) who’ll come in and issue edicts like their beloved Obama. Do away with the Latin mass, approve gay marriage, make abortion and contraception okay and, of course, let women be priests. And the Catholics who don’t like or agree with this stuff? We’ll be tossed aside, marginalized, told to “deal with it.” And, much like the schism going on in the Episcopalian church, any congregations that attempt to break away to hold on to orthodox Catholicism will be attacked, sued, bullied by the hierarchy.

I have often discussed this with my friends, one of whom despises Benedict and Catholicism in general: when I (who was raised WELS Lutheran) decided I no longer agreed with that denomination’s doctrines, I left. I bear no ill will or animosity towards my former church. I simply decided the intellectually honest thing to do was leave (and, for a time, not be particularly religious).

Could I have stayed and started trouble? Yes. I could have been a rebel, demanding changes to the “outdated” doctrines of the church, throwing a fit that I couldn’t be a minister or even vote as part of the parish council. But why? Even when I was liberal, I valued the notion that people had a right to worship as they saw fit…even if I didn’t particularly like or agree with it. It took my several years to find a place and I held many prejudices against Catholicism…until I understood what it was about. Even then, I didn’t become Catholic to ruffle feathers or “change” it. I just wasn’t anything.

The next Pope, if I had to put money on it, will likely be from Africa. My second and third choices are Latin America and Asia, respectively. I, personally, would love a Pope from Africa. If nothing else, to see American liberals lose their minds. The Catholic Church is flourishing, and orthodox, in Africa. Nothing would rattle their PC cages more than someone who defies their stereotypes of Catholics.

I highly doubt we’ll ever see an American Pope. However, if it happens (and it’s not impossible, just very unlikely), I don’t believe it will be Cardinal Dolan of New York (although, as he was my former Archbishop in Milwaukee, I have a fondness for him). It would likely be Cardinal Burke (currently working at the Vatican, but was from Wisconsin) or Cardinal O’Malley of Boston.

One thing I’ll definitely bet money on is that there will never be a woman (nun or otherwise) as a legitimate Pope.

englishqueen01 on February 16, 2013 at 11:03 AM