"quibbler" <quibbler247@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:MPG.19ecfcbd6bca4f8d98a22e@news.cis.dfn.de...

In article <blvemo$gqo32$1@ID-138129.news.uni-berlin.de>,
bugoNOSPAM@hotmail.com says...

With the news that the pope is ailing, and considering my ignorance of

the

Catholic religion, has the next pope already been chosen, or will it

happen

after JPII's death?

Naw, the way it works is that if we can get enough signatures we can
vote to recall the pope and replace him with an inarticulate hollywood
actor

No no no...the put all the cardinals on an island surrounded by cameras

then one by one they vote each other out of the vatican. In the end they
decide who will be the lone pope. Several of the more attractive loosers

on to pose for Playpope.

.

Actually, the process is spooky as *****. Check this out.
http://www.catholic-pages.com/pope/election.asp

--
_____________________________________________________
Quibbler (quibbler247atyahoo.com)
"It is fashionable to wax apocalyptic about the
threat to humanity posed by the AIDS virus, 'mad cow'
disease, and many others, but I think a case can be
made that faith is one of the world's great evils,
comparable to the smallpox virus but harder to
eradicate." -- Richard Dawkins

In article <blvemo$gqo32$1@ID-138129.news.uni-berlin.de>,
bugoNOSPAM@hotmail.com says...

With the news that the pope is ailing, and considering my ignorance of the
Catholic religion, has the next pope already been chosen, or will it happen
after JPII's death?

Naw, the way it works is that if we can get enough signatures we can
vote to recall the pope and replace him with an inarticulate hollywood
actor.

Actually, the process is spooky as *****. Check this out.
http://www.catholic-pages.com/pope/election.asp

It gets worse. There used to be a step before voting. The Cardinals
would sit and wait for God to intervene and make them all shout out
the same name!

Gregory Gadow wrote:

towelie wrote:

With the news that the pope is ailing, and considering my ignorance
of the Catholic religion, has the next pope already been chosen, or
will it happen after JPII's death? If the latter is the case, how
long will the world be pope-less? And if the former is correct, who
will be the next pope?

Traditionally, those cardinals who are younger than 85 are eligible
to vote for the next pope. After JP II dies, they will be bricked up
-- literally -- in to a wing of the Vatican Palace. There are two
ballots cast each day, one in the morning and one in the evening,
each preceeded by politicking and a solemn mass. After the vote, the
ballots are burned to help guarantee secrecy. If a new pope was
chosen, the burning paper produces a white smoke. If no one was
elected, the paper is dampened to produce a black smoke. The whole
point of the isolation, the secrecy and the smoke signals was, as far
as possible, to keep the decision separated from political and social
pressure.

That is severely fucked up. Thanks for the quick response.

Verily verily I say unto you, it is written by Gregory Gadow <techbear@serv.net>
in <3F83457F.9ED7C5B6@serv.net>:

# towelie wrote:
#
# > With the news that the pope is ailing, and considering my ignorance of the
# > Catholic religion, has the next pope already been chosen, or will it happen
# > after JPII's death? If the latter is the case, how long will the world be
# > pope-less? And if the former is correct, who will be the next pope?
#
# Traditionally, those cardinals who are younger than 85 are eligible to vote for
# the next pope. After JP II dies, they will be bricked up -- literally -- in to
# a wing of the Vatican Palace. There are two ballots cast each day, one in the
# morning and one in the evening, each preceeded by politicking and a solemn
# mass. After the vote, the ballots are burned to help guarantee secrecy. If a
# new pope was chosen, the burning paper produces a white smoke. If no one was
# elected, the paper is dampened to produce a black smoke. The whole point of the
# isolation, the secrecy and the smoke signals was, as far as possible, to keep
# the decision separated from political and social pressure.

I remember hearing this story when I was a kid, and,
impressionable callow youth that I was, I thought
they just wrote someone's name on a piece of paper
and threw it in the fire, and if gawd thought that
person should be the next pope, he would magically
turn the smoke white, otherwise he would turn it
black. Ok, go ahead and laugh at me...