Well don't know that this is the time or place for any of the pro or anti Pope vitriol.........he was a gentle old guy who I hope died peacefully. As to the rights and wrongs of Papal politics I guess its the same as all the others.........some good, some bad' driven by belief systems or custom and tradition and ultimately able to be challenged at any number of different levels. What remains true is that large multi-nationals be they religious, commercial, political or (as they probably all are) a combination of all three often don't acknowledge or respond in a rational way to the massive responsibilities they have. The head Honcho gets the flack especially if they happen to die in office. In commerce they might be paid off early or in politics have some grotesque honour bestowed upon them. Not so in the Papacy! I don't have guests knowledge of papal politics but the Catholic church does have issues it needs to address..........I watched Shoes of the Fisherman the other day based on the Graham Greene novel which does a good job of exposing the internal and external machinations of true Papal power..........quite erudite for its time circe 1960's when it details the election of a Russian Pope whose attemps at sensitivity and reform are inhibited by the Vatican mafia. I suspect that I might agree with guest on many of the issues that s/he has with Catolicism and its failures, however a meek weak old guy has died and I don't think any good is done by posthumous personal attacks.I believe the Pope is merely a figurehead fronting a significant machine which has a corporate political structure. Big question who next ? What nationality? Will they have or be allowed to have their own agenda........................???
Franl