"Gabby" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Peter Aitken" > wrote in message
> . com...
>> "Gabby" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>>
>>> "Peter Aitken" > wrote in message
>>> . com...
>>>> I was discussing this with friends and the general consensus was that
>>>> Benny was selected because (snip) He is old and will not be pope for
>>>> that long. In other words, a relatively brief period with a caretaker
>>>> pope before electing someone who might want to put his own mark on
>>>> church policy.
>>>
>>> Last time they did that they got John XXIII and we all know how that
>>> turned out.
>>>
>>> Gabby
>>>
>>
>> I do not know how it turned out so perhaps you can inform us while
>> explaining how it relates to the current situation..
>
> When John XXIII was elected in October 1958, he was 76. They elected him
> because the man they really wanted had not yet been made a cardinal. They
> pretty much expected Pope John to keep the Seat of Peter warm and then
> die, leaving the way clear for the man they had really wanted -- a bishop
> that Pope John soon made a cardinal. But, to everyone's surprise, rather
> than dying early without accomplishing anything, Pope John summoned the
> Second Vatican Council, resulting in the most massive changes in the
> Church than the world had known in centuries.
>
> So if an 'interim papacy' was the idea behind the election of Ratzinger to
> the Papal office, the college of cardinals might be in for a rude
> awakening.
>
> Gabby


Thanks - i vaguely recall that now.
--
Peter Aitken

Remove the crap from my email address before using.
>