Click to ENLARGE. News story snippets from ‘Google News‘.
Never mind what Jesus would say.
I am more interested in what John Paul II or John XXIII would have said. Or even ‘Paul VI’, ‘John Paul I’ or ‘Benedict XV’ (not XVI).
I am nonplussed.
Yes, in May of last year some had started to worry that he might become “Putin’s Pope”.
I have often said that Francis is very like Trump!
There are a couple of ‘S’ words that readily spring to my mind as I sit here stewing about Francis and this stupid statement. One of these ‘S’ words is SENILE.
You could easily call John Paul II the ASTUTE POPE. He was that.
Click to ENLARGE. From one of my ‘magic’ papal excels.
The 2 keywords of note here are ‘recorded history‘. When it comes to papal birthdays, papal history only goes back to 1400. The birthdates of popes prior to 1400 are either unavailable or unreliable. Hence, any meaningful age-related claims as to popes have to be ‘as of 1400’. Don’t let anyone fool you into saying ‘oldest … pope‘. We just don’t know.
Francis became the 3rd OLDEST pope as of 1400 on December 30, 2023.
Francis could become the 2nd OLDEST KNOWN on Oct. 17, 2024.
So, to be fair, this 87th birthday, though a BIG deal, didn’t change his standings in the ‘noldest pope‘ stakes.
So, he has been 3rd oldest close to a year. He still has 11-months to go before the next HUGE milestone — and that is a tad out there in the future. If he makes it that would be quite the thing. Kind of WILD. I HOPE HE WILL. That will be a landmark for all of us to witness.
We have had 64 popes since 1400, & of those 64 Francis is the 3rd oldest.
Francis’ predecessor, who resigned in 2013, i.e., Benedict XVI, will remain in #5; John Paul II who was the previous will be at #8.
So, the last 3 popes will, respectively, hold the #3, #5 & #8 spots (as of 1400) — from among 64 popes.
IF Benedict XVI had not resigned, he, at 95, would have been the OLDEST pope as of 1400. That is a sobering thought.
Just two years ago Francis was at #7. He has been going up in the rankings fast.
But, given that he was elected quite old, i.e., 76.2 years (9th oldest since 1400 & 4th 76 old to be elected), his reign as pope is only 10.76 years. That is respectable but nowhere close to being a record.
He is currently #70 (out of 267).
So, not even halfway. So, he has a long ladder to climb to get up those rankings. 11 popes have reigned for 11-years!
It is PURELY a numbers game. How many tourist & PILGRIMS the deceased pope can attract to his burial site. IF Pope Francis was mega-popular like was ‘John Paul II‘ they would INSIST that he be buried in St. Peter’s, with most of the other VIP popes, so that they get MORE visitors — & with that donations & other REVENUE.
It is well known that John Paul II wished to be buried in Poland — but also knew, because he was quite savvy, that it would never happen. He was TOO MUCH of a DRAW.
Francis is liked BUT doesn’t have the following …
Hence, in terms of numbers it really wouldn’t matter where he was buried.
In a way it would be good for him to be buried at another Roman Basilica — so that that Basilica might get some additional traffic.
Click to ENLARGE. From one of my ‘magic’ papal excels.
The 2 keywords of note here are ‘recorded history‘. When it comes to papal birthdays, papal history only goes back to 1400. The birthdates of popes prior to 1400 are either unavailable or unreliable. Hence, any meaningful age-related claims as to popes have to be ‘as of 1400’.
Francis became the 3rd OLDEST pope as of 1400 on December 30, 2023.
So, he has been 3rd oldest close to a year. He still has 11-months to go before he becomes the 2nd KNOWN OLDEST. That is quite the thing. Kind of WILD.
We have had 64 popes since 1400, & of those 64 Francis is the 3rd oldest.
Francis’ predecessor, who resigned in 2013, i.e., Benedict XVI, will remain in #5; John Paul II who was the previous will be at #8.
So, the last 3 popes will, respectively, hold the #3, #5 & #8 spots (as of 1400) — from among 64 popes.
IF Benedict XVI had not resigned, he, at 95, would have been the OLDEST pope as of 1400. That is a sobering thought.
Just two years ago Francis was at #7. He has been going up in the rankings fast.
That is beyond inexcusable. I am just SHOCKED that nobody flagged it.
The last pope to have facial hair was Innocent XII (1691 — 1700).
The 24 popes since have NOT had facial hair. There is a reason for this. Catholic prelates are EXPECTED not to have facial hair — to prevent them looking military.
So, this was BAD. BAD. Inexcusable.
Plus, the movie goes out of its way to stress that the story is based on ‘real life’ — that of Fr. Gabriele Amorth (1925 — 2016). That name is USED in the movie. Fr. Amorth is also shown with facial hair. The real one did NOT have a beard.
Fr. Amorth, worked in the main, for Pope John Paul II. The person portraying him bears no resemblance to the actual pope.
I haven’t finished watching it — but it hasn’t impressed me overly. Pretty shoddily produced. A ‘C-‘ for effort.
Is it totally ludicrous? That is the question. I, of course, have NO CLUE.
Yes, he had ‘secrets’. He used to sneak out to go skiing. He had a swimming pool built with funds whose source remains murky. Well, he had some other financial deals that were not totally transparent either — & we are not even going to mention his Rolex or Platinum Amex Card. Popes are expected to dabble in shady money. Part of the job. But, that is that, & this is rather different.
Of course we have also had some rather naughty popes. But, JP II? Yes, he had a colorful ‘youth’ (& have we EVER DETERMINED whether or not he was married before he became a priest, age 26) … and he was STILL YOUNG when elected pope. But?
I don’t know?
I am nonplussed. I could end up believing either side. That is the PROBLEM. I don’t know, but I also know that I don’t know ENOUGH to totally dismiss it.
So, all I can say is I am ALL EARS!
Hhhmmm.
We sure live in interesting times!
P.S., I did watch the ‘Vatican Girl’ miniseries as soon as it was released on Netflix. I was disappointed. I felt let down. There was never anything concrete. We just went around & round & in the end we were no wiser than we were at the start.
Click to ENLARGE. From one of my ‘magic’ papal excels.
The 2 keywords of note here are ‘recorded history‘. When it comes to papal birthdays, papal history only goes back to 1400. The birthdates of popes prior to 1400 are either unavailable or unreliable. Hence, any meaningful age-related claims as to popes have to be ‘as of 1400’.
So, Francis will be the 3rd OLDEST pope as of 1400 in 12-days!
Wow. This is pretty incredible.
We have had 64 popes since 1400, & of those 64 Francis will be the 3rd oldest.
Francis’ predecessor, who resigned in 2013, i.e., Benedict XVI, will remain in #5; John Paul II who was the previous will be at #8.
So, the last 3 popes will, respectively, hold the #3, #5 & #8 spots (as of 1400) — from among 64 popes.
IF Benedict XVI had not resigned, he, at 95, would be the OLDEST pope as of 1400. That is a sobering thought.
Just a year ago Francis was at #7. He has been going up in the rankings fast.
It will take Francis 666 more days to get to the #2 spot. That would be as of October 16, 2024. Basically 2-years from now. That is a fair distance away. So, lets not talk too much about that for now.
Despite his age, Francis’ near 10-year reign does NOT even put him in the top 80! He is still around #82 when it comes to length of papacy. He became pope quite late in life.
So, that is the story for now.
So, come December 30, 2022, Francis will be the THIRD OLDEST pope in recorded history. Amen.
Click to ENLARGE. From one of my ‘magic’ papal excels.
The 2 keywords of note here are ‘recorded history‘. When it comes to papal birthdays, papal history only goes back to 1400. The birthdates of popes prior to 1400 are either unavailable or unreliable. Hence, any meaningful age-related claims as to popes have to be ‘as of 1400’.
So, Francis will be the 3rd OLDEST pope as of 1400 in just over 2 months!
That is pretty incredible.
We have had 64 popes since 1400, & of those 64 Francis will be the 3rd oldest.
Francis’ predecessor, who resigned in 2013, i.e., Benedict XVI, will remain in #5; John Paul II who was the previous will be at #8.
So, the last 3 popes will, respectively, hold the #3, #5 & #8 spots (as of 1400) — from among 64 popes.
IF Benedict XVI had not resigned, he, at 95, would be the OLDEST pope as of 1400. That is a sobering thought.
Just a year ago Francis was at #7. He has been going up in the rankings fast.
It will take Francis 666 more days to get to the #2 spot. That would be as of October 16, 2024. Basically 2-years from now. That is a fair distance away. So, lets not talk too much about that for now.
Despite his age, Francis’ near 10-year reign does NOT even put him in the top 80! He is still around #82 when it comes to length of papacy. He became pope quite late in life.
So, that is the story for now.
So, come the end of 2022 Francis will be the THIRD OLDEST pope in recorded history. Amen.
Pope Francis (possibly to the surprise of some) is dead right in that a pope can resign BUT the thorny issue has to do with the part that he added claiming: ‘there was nothing wrong‘. That claim is contentious.
Papal resignations, thanks to St. Celestine V (#196, 1294), have been legally permissible since 1294. Celestine, way shrewder than most realize, got this legalized before he opted to resign. But, that was in 1294. [In 1917, papal resignations were CODIFIED within Canon Law. So, there is no doubt or debate that a pope can officially resign/retire/abdicate. Perfectly kosher.]
However, since 1294, only two popes have resigned!
726-years & 71 popes since 1294 & only 2 have resigned/retired.
ONLY 2 out of 71. 2.8%.
That must say SOMETHING.
If it was SO ‘OK’ for popes to resign don’t you think we might have had a few more.
Yes, of course, being Pope is the ultimate job in the world. Prior to Francis saying ‘NO SO’ the pope was the Vicar of Christ (on earth). It doesn’t get better than that. A Pope has total autocratic powers & within the sovereign ‘Vatican City State’ he cannot be held accountable for any of his actions BY ANYONE on earth. So, it is not a job that one would relinquish lightly.
In recent years we have seen at least two popes that hung on to the end despite serious, lingering health issues: Pius XII & John Paul II. The latter is said to have stated or implied that ‘you cannot climb down from the Cross‘.
While resignations are legal they do cause issues — unsettling the flock key among them. Then there is the possibility (some times even real danger) that there could be a schism. It also ‘weakens’ the OFFICE of the papacy — makes it feel more mortal! No longer an office held for life. An office that the holder can renounce & walk away.
So, while Francis is right that a pope can resign, he probably is wrong in saying that there is nothing wrong with it.
Click to ENLARGE. Link to original coverage at ‘Native News Online‘.Click to ENLARGE. From ‘Google News’. Click to ENLARGE. Pope Francis has worn native Indian headgear at least once before. This was in Brazil in 2013 — soon after he became pope. That was 9-years ago & he looks so much younger. From ‘Google Images’.Click to ENLARGE. John Paul II, once an actor & always the ham, started the trend during a trip to Mexico — popes in sombreros. These are from ‘Google Images’ & show the last two popes.Click to ENLARGE. From ‘Google Images’. John Paul II wearing a cowboy hat.
Over the last 1,800 years (or more) popes have worn some interesting hats. They were part of their regalia. There used to be a website devoted to papal hats (& I even played around with starting a blog on the same theme).
Pope Francis’ classic native Indian headdress, worn in Canada today, does take the cake. WOW. That is quite the hat. The pope looks good & happy in it — though this, we must remember, is an atonement visit.
