Why is the new Pope so old?

[Sparks]

I'm not very religous, so maybe I'm missing something here....


The new Pope turned 78 last Saturday. He's 78 years old! Why would you get a "new" Pope that's so old? Won't we just be going through all of this drama again in a few years when he dies of old age, lol?


Educate me people...

[DamageX]

Originally Posted by Hostive

I'm not very religous, so maybe I'm missing something here....


The new Pope turned 78 last Saturday. He's 78 years old! Why would you get a "new" Pope that's so old? Won't we just be going through all of this drama again in a few years when he dies of old age, lol?


Educate me people...

Maybe they're thinking that no one will try to assasinate this one, as they'd also expect him to die of old age first, while his little cardinal helpers secretely pop him full of vitamins, minerals and Viagra. Hmmm, scratch the last one, we don't need him fucking around, The Lord won't like that...

[sean416]

When you have a young pope like the one who just passed, it takes 25 years plus before you can get a new leader. Their thinking is get an older pope who will only be around for 10 years or so. It's kinda like you can only be president for 8 years. Since you're the pope till you pass, its their natural way of making sure no one becomes the pope for an extended amount of time.

[pxxx]

An old pope dies, the new one is old as hell. wow

[Sparks]

Originally Posted by sean416

When you have a young pope like the one who just passed, it takes 25 years plus before you can get a new leader. Their thinking is get an older pope who will only be around for 10 years or so. It's kinda like you can only be president for 8 years. Since you're the pope till you pass, its their natural way of making sure no one becomes the pope for an extended amount of time.

I guess that makes sense. Pope John Paul was the Pope since '81 or '83 wasn't he?

[Morphius]

Wisdom comes with age

[leedsfan]

the main reason is that the last pope had such a long papacy they dont want that to happen again for a while. What happens is that there can't be any reform during an ongoing papacy if the pope is traditionalist, which PJP2 was.
So if you have an old pope, chances are he wont be around for long, so if the church needs to make changes, they wont have to wait too long to make them.

With such a worldwide issue surrounding birth control, and the fact the church is living in the dark ages, saying catholics worldwide shouldnt use condoms, it leads to ever increasing numbers of aids sufferers. If the church truly believes that men and women are going to wait until they get married to have sex, what does that say about them? Do you know any virgins older than 15 these days?

The are directly responsible for massive numbers of deaths caused by aids. Thats orgainsed religion for you. Hypocracy.

[Screaming]

there has been some big speculation about that

[European Lee]

So he will die in a couple of years and the Vatican will be center of attention for another 4 weeks after his death.

Thing about it, all that media coverage for a religion, you have a good chance that someone will join your religion with that amount of press coverage ;)

Marketing 101 people.

Regards,

Lee

[European Lee]

Originally Posted by Morphius

Wisdom comes with age

So does death

Your point is?

Regards,

Lee

[Sparks]

Originally Posted by European Lee

So he will die in a couple of years and the Vatican will be center of attention for another 4 weeks after his death.

Thing about it, all that media coverage for a religion, you have a good chance that someone will join your religion with that amount of press coverage ;)

Marketing 101 people.

Regards,

Lee

Good call

[GatorB]

Originally Posted by Hostive

I guess that makes sense. Pope John Paul was the Pope since '81 or '83 wasn't he?

1978 actually. See Pope John Paul II becaame Pope because the one before him died 1 month after becoming Pope so the Vatican thought it be better to get a guy who wouldn't die right away. Well now because John Paull II lived so long now they are going back the other way. I think the church wants people to worship GOD not the Pope. There have been Popes for almost 2000 year and John Paul II had the 3rd longest term.

Plus you never know considering the Pope proably get some of the best health care around he may live to be 90 or 100.

[HpicAnn]

i read somewhere church dont want a long papacy...

[kane]

he's a transitional pope. the last pope was a traditionalist and was around for a long time. This guy will only be around for 10 years or so. This allows the church time to absorbe the legacy of the last pope ( for better or worse ) and start to rethink it's future and plan it's direction. Then when this pope dies they will have a plan and elect a pope that will carry it out.

think of it in football terms. If you have an average team that drafts a great running back to make your team better you go out and sign a veteran quarterback to lead your team for a couple of years while you develop this running back, get a coaching staff in order and map out your plan. The quarterback you bring in isn't the guy that is the long term solution to your problem, he is the guy that will hold down the fort while you work out a trade for or draft/develope a younger quarterback that fits into your scheme and will lead you for long time.

same thing with this pope. He is supposedly a hardliner so don't expect much change from the church, but the cardinals will be planning a " new " direction for the church and the next pope will be the face of that new direction.

[GiantGnome]

The average age of the 183 voting cardinals is 71.7 years

There are 183 living cardinals worldwide. Out of the 183 cardinals, 117 will be voting in the next pope. The other 66 cardinals will not participate in the voting of the new pope. The reason is very simple. They are more than 80 years old. Once a cardinal is over 80 years of age, he is not eligible to vote.

[Basic_man]

Because they need a good rotation .. :P