What's up with all the attention that the last Pope and the Catholic church is getting now?

Dear readers.... I'm baffled and awestruck. I'm not Catholic... so I don't really occupy myself with all the goings-on and goings-off in the Vatican and in the Catholic church in general. For me all that is not applicable.

And for a long time, I thought that most of the world, even though they might or might not believe in God or consider themselves Christian... I thought that they felt essentially the same way.

All of a sudden, it seems that since the Pope quit, it's like a mountain rose up out of the sea - the mountain of Catholicism... and everything that they do now is this big deal???

What's up with that??

For a denomination that hit the skids with so much bad press... pedophilia, fiscal corruption, dwindling attendance on Sundays- and churches/schools closing, their leader skipping town, so to speak... etc... I'm surprised that the Catholic church has been getting so much attention.

Why all the enthrallment? Am I the only one that feels like this?

reply to post by MarkJS


Could it be because there is 1.1 billion Catholics in the world (many in the west) and for many of them a change in pope is a rather big deal and that is why the media devote so much attention to it.

reply to post by MarkJS

People believe that events are fitting predictions about the END of the Catholic church.
So for those who don't like the Catholic church. that's logically a very good reason to take an interest.

PS Sorry, I thought you meant ATS attention.
On the question of world attention, see post above.
Any change in a major leadership situation is news.

They were going down the slide, they were hitting the skids, they were biting the dust (an old expression, I know)... and everybody knew that. At least that was my impression.

Now, it seems that it's a big surprise to a lot of people.... crazy

Is the demise of the Catholic church really new news to so many people??? I'm baffled.

With so much bad press... pedophilia, fiscal corruption, dwindling attendance on Sundays- and churches/schools closing, their leader skipping town

I mean the pedophilia reports have been going on for at least 20 years... Really? People are surprised that it's on a slide down?

Maybe because:


1 - The Catholic Church is more than 1800 years old

2 - There are more than one billion Catholics in the world

3 - It's the first time a Pope resigned in six centuries

4 - Millions of people are aware of the Prophecy of Saint Malachy, and the "Petrus Romanus" stuff...

There are over 2 billion Muslims and the MSM doesnt give mvoements in their religious leadership nearly as much coverage.

Just the occasional "Muhammad Muhammad Muhammad has been killed in a drone strike and will be replaced by Muhammad Ramadan Muhammad.....and now for your weather."

Equal treatment, which they should get half of (1 billion vs 2 billion), would dictate the MSM should just toss a 15 second blurb out like "the Pope has resigned and Cardinals will begin the task of selecting a new one.....and now for your weather."

Putting it all in the perspective of what the MSM passes for news these days anyway and it's really no wonder. All the wasted minutes they fill going on about some British chick gettign knocked up or some geriatric being nauseous it would fit the pattern for them to spend half an hour going about NAMBLA picking the next pedo-in-chief.

The is no surplus of news to be had on the "news." It's all tabloid garbage from CNN to the NY Times.

It's because the world loves a scandal, I think. The Catholic Church is huge, flashy and powerful, with a bad reputation and their very own parasitical collection of ancient prophecies. Along with the desire that the whole organization would just end already, any unusual happenings will draw people's attention.

Really, in an age where regular people get nationwide coverage of their mundane actions just because they're rich, this is hardly a surprise to me.

Originally posted by thisguyrighthere
There are over 2 billion Muslims and the MSM doesnt give mvoements in their religious leadership nearly as much coverage.

Just the occasional "Muhammad Muhammad Muhammad has been killed in a drone strike and will be replaced by Muhammad Ramadan Muhammad.....and now for your weather."

Equal treatment, which they should get half of (1 billion vs 2 billion), would dictate the MSM should just toss a 15 second blurb out like "the Pope has resigned and Cardinals will begin the task of selecting a new one.....and now for your weather."

Putting it all in the perspective of what the MSM passes for news these days anyway and it's really no wonder. All the wasted minutes they fill going on about some British chick gettign knocked up or some geriatric being nauseous it would fit the pattern for them to spend half an hour going about NAMBLA picking the next pedo-in-chief.

The is no surplus of news to be had on the "news." It's all tabloid garbage from CNN to the NY Times.

edit on 5-3-2013 by thisguyrighthere because: (no reason given)

Muslims don't have a worldwide "global leader" like Catholics have.

There is not a "Muslim Pope".

Also, the Catholic Church is a Western institution, unlike Islam. The United Kingdom was a Roman Catholic country until 500 years ago. So, Western media will give much more attention to the Catholic Church than they will give to Muslims.

And there are over 70 million Catholics in the USA, so, I think that's a good reason for the American media to give attention to the conclave and the choice of the new Pope.


Besides, of course, the fact that it was the first resignation of a Pope in six centuries, and there is a well known prophecy that claims the next Pope will be "the last one before the end times".

For the record, I'm going to say this.... I have nothing against the Catholic church.... Also:

The Pope can step down, then step back into office, then step down, then go back yet again... ad infinitum... Doesn't make a heap of difference to me...

....whatever floats his boat.

Originally posted by MarkJS
For the record, I'm going to say this.... I have nothing against the Catholic church.... Also:

The Pope can step down, then step back into office, then step down, then go back yet again... ad infinitum... Doesn't make a heap of difference to me...

....whatever floats his boat.

edit on 5/3/2013 by MarkJS because: (no reason given)

But makes a difference for over 1 billion Catholics in the world, and over 70 million Catholics in the USA...

reply to post by GLontra

I suppose...

I just hope that they are not shocked and awed at the events unfolding in the Vatican these days....

It looks like I'm the only one who thinks that they are overreacting and paying undue portions of time on "the whole Catholic thing". Everybody else is in silent agreement that it's not undue? OK then.

Because they want to re-create their image for the masses to draw in new subjects.

It i usual for a pope to die in the position.

This is the first ever resignation of a pope contrary to common belief, 600 years ago there were 3 popes and 2 were sacked to get back to a 1 pope system.

There are 1.1 billion catholics in the world.

The population of the USA is as of 1 January 315,183,801 SOURCE

Imagine if Obama stepped down ? I know I know some of you wish he would.

Now multiply that by 3 and you may just have your answer.

Cody

The papacy is important because it is believed to be a direct 'paper trail' leading right back to that religion's actual deity,

St Peter (the first pope) was appointed that position by Jesus (believed to be god incarnate) himself.

As mentioned numerous times above, The sheer amount of followers of this faith in the countries that are making a "big deal" about the news, is why it is such a "big deal"

Even if you aren't catholic yourself, Why does that mean you cannot take an interest?

From a non religious stand-point, surely it would be similar to say, Barrack Obama resigning before end of term?

An incredibly important (on a world scale) world leader, Who has vast influence in the way the world is run.