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Post by M. Hawbaker on Dec 23, 2020 1:48:43 GMT
A source close to the Vatican has reported that Pope Francis will be stepping down from the Papacy before the end of the year. There is “no doubt” the Pontiff “will resign in 2020”, the source confirmed. Pope Francis became head of the Catholic Church following the unexpected resignation of Pope Benedict XVI in 2013 and has been unpopular among U.S. Catholics for his radical stances on same-sex marriage, illegal immigration, and global warming as well as his support for Black Lives Matter.
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Post by M. Hawbaker on Dec 23, 2020 1:55:23 GMT
If true, this is a surprising development.
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Post by barb43 on Dec 23, 2020 3:45:02 GMT
Popes aren't supposed to resign. They're supposed to hold the office until they D-I-E, die! That's the way it was set up from whenever the Papacy began. Pope Benedict the XVI retiring rocked the Catholic world, for sure. That was never to happen again, by golly. The way Pope Francis has behaved, he's really gotten in deep to where he sure looks like the False Prophet described in The Book of Revelation. And he still could be that person, even if he resigns. It will certainly be interesting to see what happens next! I'm glued to the edge of my seat ... y'know, don't change that dial! (wasn't that some old tv line when a show was going to a commercial, ala the 1950s, which I'm almost too young to remember anything about)
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Post by M. Hawbaker on Dec 23, 2020 10:22:49 GMT
The way Pope Francis has behaved, he's really gotten in deep to where he sure looks like the False Prophet described in The Book of Revelation. And he still could be that person, even if he resigns. It will certainly be interesting to see what happens next! Over the last couple of years, He has appointed many super liberal Bishops and Cardinals
Those liberal Cardinals will have a major influence on choosing the next Pope who will very likely be one of those very liberal Bishops.
Even if Frances isn't the False Prophet himself, his job may very well have been to lay the groundwork for him.
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Post by M. Hawbaker on Dec 23, 2020 10:25:50 GMT
I'm glued to the edge of my seat ... y'know, don't change that dial! (wasn't that some old tv line when a show was going to a commercial, ala the 1950s, which I'm almost too young to remember anything about) I remember that line from watching old black and white reruns as a kid.
I wonder what kids today would make of those old TVs with dials instead of buttons or touch pads and no remote control.
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Post by barb43 on Dec 23, 2020 16:46:54 GMT
I'm glued to the edge of my seat ... y'know, don't change that dial! (wasn't that some old tv line when a show was going to a commercial, ala the 1950s, which I'm almost too young to remember anything about) I remember that line from watching old black and white reruns as a kid. I wonder what kids today would make of those old TVs with dials instead of buttons or touch pads and no remote control.
I think they'd find all of that curious. 16-yr old grandson walked into MikeJ's apt, when he & DS came to help us board up a window that we couldn't get closed, and looked around. He saw the TV, which isn't terribly old, imo, and exclaimed, "Oh, look! The guy had a 'box TV'!" I'd never heard a television referred to that way. It's not a flatscreen TV, which is pretty much all the rage today.
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Post by barb43 on Dec 23, 2020 16:52:41 GMT
It was St Malachy's prophecy that presented the idea of 112 Popes, and Pope Francis is the 112th, basically. I think there was some time where someone was considered a half-pope, or something odd. It's not set in stone, of course, that Francis would be the last pope, but there has certainly been a fair amount of discussion on that over the since he took the office. It will be interesting to see what happens if the Pope does indeed resign and step away before December 31, 2020. And you're right about how he could have set the stage for the False Prophet to come out of one of the appointments he made. I certainly don't see Francis and the word "good" linked together.
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Post by M. Hawbaker on Dec 23, 2020 17:19:22 GMT
It was St Malachy's prophecy that presented the idea of 112 Popes, and Pope Francis is the 112th, basically. I think there was some time where someone was considered a half-pope, or something odd. Personally, I tend to view St Malachy as being in the same category as Nostradamus.
His prophecies are interesting, but many of them are so broad or so vaguely worded that they could be creatively interpreted to mean almost anything.
And of course, there is a very real question of how much (if any) of the Papal prophecy was actually written by Malachy himself vs being a later forgery.
Also, there is good reason for doubting the true number of popes that there have been to date, especially in the first few centuries AD before Catholicism was made the official religion of the Roman Empire by Constantine and also in the middle ages when there were several periods in which there were two or more rival popes.
In some cases, the various rival popes are both included in the count of 112 and in other cases only one is included and the other is considered an anti pope.
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Post by M. Hawbaker on Dec 23, 2020 17:30:17 GMT
I think they'd find all of that curious. 16-yr old grandson walked into MikeJ's apt, when he & DS came to help us board up a window that we couldn't get closed, and looked around. He saw the TV, which isn't terribly old, imo, and exclaimed, "Oh, look! The guy had a 'box TV'!" I'd never heard a television referred to that way. It's not a flatscreen TV, which is pretty much all the rage today. "Box TV"
I don't think that I have ever heard them called that, but the name does certainly fit!
When I was a little boy, our TV was an old black and white box with a "rabbit ear" antenna and separate VHF and UHF dials. If I remember correctly, we only had about three channels that we could get clearly on a regular basis and a couple of others that would be clear enough to watch occasionally if atmospheric conditions were just right.
Colored TVs were around then but were still pretty rare due to being so much more expensive and many shows especially on the smaller local stations were still only being produced in black and white anyway.
I think that I was around 10 when Dad finally decided to get a colored set after the old B&W finally died on us.
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Post by barb43 on Dec 23, 2020 17:36:46 GMT
Surprisingly, we studied up on St Malachy's prediction of 112 popes when I was in the catechumenate class at Blessed Sacrament, just over 30 years ago. I think the priest we had at the time & both deacons found that sort of thing interesting. I can't remember who they considered to be half-popes & the uncertainty about the accurate # at the time. I'd heard of the rival popes but we certainly didn't discuss them. That was a really interesting class. I got along well with that priest, and the deacon who was a captain on the police force at the time. I have no regrets over joining the Catholic church.
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Post by M. Hawbaker on Dec 23, 2020 17:53:25 GMT
I have no regrets over joining the Catholic church. I've never been Catholic myself, but I have never regretted the years that I attended the Catholic church with Sharon and her family.
For all the problems that exist within Catholic theology and practice, there is much to be admired too.
While my own beliefs are strictly Evangelical Protestant, I believe that my personal prayer life and devotional practices have greatly benefited from the things that I experienced there.
And I fully believe that there are many truly born again God loving believers within the RCC despite what some Protestant teachers would claim.
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Post by barb43 on Dec 23, 2020 18:10:33 GMT
And I fully believe that there are many truly born again God loving believers within the RCC.
Oh, yes - there really are. My late-MIL was a solidly born-again Christian. She counseled me, when I was studying to join, not to blindly follow the RCC, but to read my Bible and follow God's principles. My late-dh came back to the Catholic church, after not fully completing all the steps kids go through, just before DS was born. He also was a born-again follower of Christ.
You can leave the Catholic church - I did in early 1995, but the Catholic church never lets you go ... they refer to people like me as "a Catholic who has been away for a time." They're sure we'll all "come home like sheep" eventually.
Just to be clear, I accepted Christ in VBS the summer I was 12. I didn't have much training as a Christian, but I went to church with friends as much as I could all the rest of my childhood/teen years - mostly Methodist churches, or nondenominational; even spent a whole week at a Quaker camp while in junior high. I joined the Catholic church because I'd gone to school with so many Catholics in NE Ohio, and I married into a Polish Catholic family after I came in the Army.
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