Bert

All of them. Lol

I know you can't pay a kid to come to your school, I wonder if there is anything that says you can't pay them to transfer? I ask that tongue in cheek.

I wanted to touch on this question one more time because after thinking about it, I didn't answer very well. The role of the pope could best be summed up in Chap 21 of John where Jesus three times instructs Peter to feed (or tend) his sheep. The Good Shepherd has ascended to heaven and a long line of unworthy shepherds (none are worthy other than the Good Shepherd) have had the responsibility to sit in his place till the Good Shepherd returns.

Another thing Pope Francis did today was go to the hotel to get his luggage and paid his own bill, lol. I think he tried to carry his own luggage but someone with his security insisted for safety he allow someone else to carry it.

See below I think the best analogy to the role of the pope is similar to the role the Prime Minister (I don't believe that was his real title) had to the Kings. When King Saul/David/Solomon would leave the kingdom for state purposes, the king would leave the symbolic keys to his prime minister. Those keys gave the prime minister the authority to act in the King's place. The prime minister was not allowed to overturn the King's laws but he could provide interpretation on them, clarification of them and he was responsible for leading the people in the King's absence. History shows that if while the King were absent and the prime minister were to die (or otherwise have to leave office) the rest of the ministers could pick a replacement. Catholics believe it was no coincidence that keys were given to Peter to be a spiritual leader and the rest of the Church leadership pick their successors till the King of Kings returns. I think the above addresses this. I will add that he is a man with a vocation which is part of the reason why it was such a big deal when Benedict retired, it is not just a job so if you do resign, it should be because you truly don't have the ability to continue the job. I wouldn't so much say the pope is a liason in the normal way. The definition of a priest is one who performs a sacrifice and Catholics believe Jesus is the ultimate priest who sacrificed himself for us. Because Christ commanded that we do this in his memory, priests (bishops, cardinals and the pope are still priests) do fill that role during communion though all state they are his unworthy substitute since only Jesus was truly worthy. So to summarize, the pope is basically someone to hold down the fort so to speak till the King returns. Well, technically, the past six were not. I say that because John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul I, John Paul II, Benedict XVI and currently Francis have never spoke (or wrote) in a way that was intended to be infallible. Only twice in the concept of papal infallibility has a pope spoke in a way that was to be taken as infallible and on both topics, both were so widely accepted in the Catholic Church that it was more to confirm a teaching than to introduce a new teaching. With 1.2 billion Catholics and over 1 million catholic churches, it is limited. When the pope writes a book or encyclical on a teaching, it is published so anything can read it. Now, how much communication form the church level makes it to the pope? Again, it is limited. A pastor of a church would first go to his bishop who oversees a diocese which is all the catholic churches in a geographic location. Kentucky has four diocese. The Diocese of Covington which covers Northern KY, the diocese of Lexington which covers the Lexington and East, the diocese of Owensboro which cover Western KY and the Archdiocese of Louisville which covers Louisville and south through Central KY. Bishops do have some contact to the pope. Part of the position of bishop is that periodically they do go to Rome to meet with the Pope to go over challenges they are having and other issues. I hope that helped.

I know when elected Pope, you start the job pretty much immediately. I wonder how much time he will have to deal with things that were still going on at his old Archdiocese ie projects he was leading that will now need to be delegated to someone else or appointments that he had scheduled. I would guess a diocese as large as his would have atleast one Auxillary Bishop who could pick up much of that. I guess his personal items just get packed up and shipped to him.

I have been reading articles about him and one article asked people to vote and explain their vote. It seems the extremes do not care for him. The hard right is not happy that a Jesuit is Pope with their soft liberal Liberation Theology views (despite Pope Francis opposing Liberation Theology) and the left his accusing him of being another gay hating, women hating old conservative white guy. I would say when both extremes do not like you, that speaks well of you.

According to Wikipedia he is open to discussing the use of contraception if one member of the married couple had an std but opponsed Argentina' free contraception. Also Wikipedia said he lead the fight to prevent the legalization of gay marriage in Argentina. It is bizarre how such conflicting info is in the media.

I am glad South America now has a pope. With 500 years of Catholicsm, I would say they are ready to take the reigns from Europe lol. Hopefully the US can get one in my lifetime. I hope Pope Francis also starts to change up the Roman Curia over the next year to clean things up.

Didn't take Wikipedia long to update its site. LOL.

So I guess it was the last vote of the day I am guessing.

Lol. Anyone know what time it is in Rome? I cannot remember the time difference. I am guessing it is in the evening now?

You were the first to announce Habemus Papam in 2005 Bird Pio. You are quick on the draw when it comes to electing popes.

Other countries (those in Europe primarily) would rather gripe about the US than the primary offenders, China being one. That said, I support the US 's continued efforts to reduce emissions even if I have to pay a little more for gasoline and electricity.

Don't we hear this threat from North Korea about every 5 years or so? Not saying we should down play them but as far as saying we need to strike at them? I really don't think so.

While I do like the intent of the Harbin system (have the best teams advance to the playoffs) it does seem to faults with it like you say in the two examples above and it discourages schools from scheduling the exciting, bloodbath type schedules fans like.

Growing up I drove my parents insane how picky I was. Now, you would be hard pressed to find something I won't eat. For those of you who have seen me, I am sure you will find that shocking. Liver - not my favorite but I will eat it. Goetta - overrated in my opinion but not bad. Onions - as long as they are cooked they compliment many dishes. Garlic - heavenly Spam - not sure if this counts as normal food but I can handle it. Vienna Sausages - Love them on Ritz Crackers Brunsweiger (however you spell it) - LOVE IT Sushi - yummy, just don't go crazy with the wasabi Sardines - their tolerable, prefer other fish Anchovies - their OK Artichokes (not the dip, Artichokes raw) - a pain in the butt to eat with the peeling but if you make it that far it is OK.

Hmmmmm pretty sure the continent we are currently in has never had a pope and while it has been several centuries, Africa has had a few popes.

We are officially sede vacante now correct? Would love to see Cardinal Dolan or O'Malley get the fisherman's ring but I think the rest of the world is nnervous about the last superpower also providing the pope.

I agree with you that moral decay cannot be considered the sole or even the primary cause for gun violence (otherwise, why does Europe have such low gun violence?) but I also don't know if one can assume the winning and losing of the birth lottery as a cause. The reason being, humans have been born into poverty or wealth or in between from the beginning of civilization I would guess but for some reason, gun violence has become much more of a problem today than several decades ago (atleast it seems it has, I do not have the data in front of me to support or refute that comment.) Why did those who lived in urban hells fifty years ago not resort to gun violence like today? Sure there was some, but was it anything like today?

Not arguing, more asking the question. Has Europe experienced a similar moral decay? If so, why so little gun violence there?

Saying that, I do think under extreme circumstances someone can be rewired. I base this on two therapists I knew who often treated victims of rape and molestation. They mentioned young girls who are raped/molested seem to become lesbians at a much, much higher rate than average. I sometimes wonder if that torment may have affected them to a point that a relationship with a man is just too terrifying to enter into so they subconsciously are attracted to women.

I would agree with you that ACTING on homosexual urges is a choice but I would think most homosexuals didn't choose to be attracted to their own sex rather than the opposite sex the same way I didn't chose to be attracted to females and not males, it is just who I am.

In the early 90's (I think early 90's) bottled water was getting popular. I never thought people would pay more for water than gas. Good prediction on my part. I blame youth.

I am amazed when I watch a high school game at how ofter one or both student sections will have no faculty supervising them and garbage like you mentioned goes on.