The Pope gives his resignation.

[Beorning]

So... we have white smoke in Vatican.

I wonder who the cardinals chose...

[Oniya]

Happy Pick-a-Pope Day!

[gaggedLouise]

Wondering too. The BBC suggested Angelo Scola, archbishop of Milan who is supposed tp have gone into the conclave with a large following.  Looked him up at WP and according to a guy who had reviewed a book of his:

In a review of Cardinal Scola's 1996 book, The Nuptial Mystery, Luke Timothy Johnson writes in Commonweal magazine about Scola's "condemnation not only of abortion and of genetic engineering, and of birth control, but also of feminism, of homosexuality, and of cultural traits Scola associates with feminism and homosexuality, namely individualism, libertinism, relativism, narcissism, and even nihilism.

According to Johnson, "the cardinal’s logic, in fact, seems to be that feminism is responsible for homosexuality, because the more women act like men, the more men are likely to want to have sex with other men.

Sounds uplifting. He's the man. :(

[Beorning]

According to Johnson, "the cardinal’s logic, in fact, seems to be that feminism is responsible for homosexuality, because the more women act like men, the more men are likely to want to have sex with other men".

Oh my...  :o

[Oniya]

... I'm sure I could come up with something crude, irreverent and funny about that.  Unfortunately, the little Oni had early dismissal today, so I have to be careful.

Like putting it in a spoiler

So, being liberated means more hot yaoi?  Score!

[gaggedLouise]

Must have been many feminists around in the days of Oscar Wilde, then - by the way I seem to recall he edited a ladies' magazine for some years - and quite enjoyed it.

[Kythia]

Holy shit.

No pun intended.  But holy shit.  Did not see that coming.

[Beorning]

Who's the new pope? He is not Scola. What do we know about him?

[Avis habilis]

Bergoglio the Argentinian. Now Pope Francis (the first?)

[Oniya]

What we know about him:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jorge_Bergoglio

[gaggedLouise]

I hope he's nothing like Jorge of Burgos - the main villain of The Name of the Rose.  :P

[Aislinn]

Absolutely thrilled that they picked a non-European Pope. Don't get me wrong...love me some Europeans...but I am very hopeful that this means that the Catholic Church is becoming more progressive as time goes on.

[Iniquitous]

He's conservative - I dont expect much change from him.

[Beguile's Mistress]

He may be a conservative but he is a man of the people, humble and gentle for all he is a Jesuit.  At least that is the aspects of his personality that people are talking about.

[RubySlippers]

My guess he will toss out his modest way to live and get sucked into the Papal lifestyle in no time. He should stay in modest housing outside the city and take mass transit living like he did as a cardinal that would make me give him some respect. More if he focused the wealth of the faith fully into the care of the needy and the poor and used his office to promote good causes.

[Rhapsody]

Aaaaand we're off to a great start.

http://lezgetreal.com/2013/03/francis-i-elected-pope-first-jesuit-first-latin-american/

• Opposes gay marriage. Check!
• Opposes contraception. Check!
• Opposes abortion. Check!
• Opposes adoption rights by gay couples as "discriminating against children". Check!
• Stays silent about atrocities. Check!

[Pumpkin Seeds]

Oh boy..This'll be fun.

[TheGlyphstone]

Why are we acting surprised? Was anyone really expecting a liberal, abortion-supporting, gay-rights-backing Pope? Absolutely nothing has changed here.

[Kythia]

Yeah, its not exactly strange that the Catholic Church has elected someone to lead it who supports the official viewpoint of the Catholic Church.

[ShadowFox89]

 There was the expectation that they would elect someone who could attract the younger generation.

[gaggedLouise]

There was the expectation that they would elect someone who could attract the younger generation.

Well, he's 76. Honestly some people grow more daring and radical the older they get, but I doubt if this one is going to take that route.

[Cyrano Johnson]

During the last Papal conclave, it was pointed out by some outlets that the conservatism of the Papacy has a great deal to do with the fact that the politics of the office are global, and that the slate of concerns common in the progressive Western world is of little interest to the largest and fastest-growing Catholic populations in the developing world. So I'm not shocked when they fail to elect someone who gives a thumbs-up to gay marriage or abortion.

Still, that doesn't explain why they can't find someone with a more aggressive stance on ending the abuse scandal -- I find it hard to believe that it's only harming the Church's image in the West -- or someone capable of conceding that the condom might be handy from the POV of stopping the spread of AIDS.

[Pumpkin Seeds]

Was expecting someone that might be softer on the touch.  Jesuits can be though as they do like to argue logic, so at least if he disagrees with you he'll try and make a valid point of it.  Though from reading his views already, not sure we're going to see a lot of that this time around.

[Callie Del Noire]

Why are we acting surprised? Was anyone really expecting a liberal, abortion-supporting, gay-rights-backing Pope? Absolutely nothing has changed here.

You'd have to have something like a 3rd of the Cardinals store out and die to get the conservative element out. All at once. Honestly, I don't see anyone in the Church structure at that level changing in the next 20 years.

[TaintedAndDelish]

I've been trying very hard not to slip in a comment about the fancy dresses and hats and red shoes that popes and cardinals dress up in. I'll just keep those comments to myself.    8-)