Only one of those men has a wizard staff (by way of Bo-Peep).
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Also damn, look at the DEI Pope candidateā¦ Mark Ouellet I mean. You obviously know heād just be getting the papacy to be made the first Quebecker pope
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hindi pwede ang bakla sa bahay koā¦
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dutch is not a serious language
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What even makes someone, like, a good candidate for the Papacy? Besides dogmatism and some kind of popularity and stature among an extremely narrow group of people (cardinals or whatever) and perhaps perceived popularity among a much larger but still well defined group of people (Roman Catholics). I mean, it seems like an unrealistic expectation to expect the freakinā Pope to not be dogmatic considering they are like the closest thing to the Churchās physical manifestation of its dogma walking on earth, so, being a good candidate for Pope seems kinda stuck together (not synonymous ofc) with being homophobic or transphobic or against abortion or on the bad guy side of the class war, which are just ofc the Churchās main still existing political talking points within the context of its continued existence and undeniable prominence within global society.
Like, I think socially and culturally progressive Roman Catholics have a moral imperative to oppose homophobia and transphobia and anti-choice/pro-death organizing, both within and outside of their insular communities, up to and including disregarding the validity of literal excommunication based on grounds of being pro-choice or whatever. But as perhaps the worldās most major truly global institution that is arguably demonstrably also among if not the most resistant to change (or at least certain kinds of social and cultural change), despite what many or even most Roman Catholics might think (canāt speak for what most Roman Catholics think about homophobia or transphobia or abortion but by default we know most Roman Catholics suffer from class based economic oppression), itās a complicated subject. I donāt know what makes a good or bad Pope for progressive social change beyond ig the kind of thing Francis seemed to be doing, which I think is best summarized by this description on his wikipedia page:
As Pope, Francis had marked a more accommodative tone on some LGBTQ topics than his predecessors.
Whereas an āaccommodative toneā would I feel really translate more to just being marginally less homophobic than other homophobes, or a comparison that I like to think of as making the distinction of being the fastest fly to the pile of dogshit.
I donāt know what Iām really saying here, just musing about change affecting longstanding institutions, I guess. It might be interesting to see if the kind of social change that has happened in even the last 12 years will be measurable in even an institution like the Catholic Church, and the next guy will be an even faster fly than Francis to the pile of dogshit. weāll get a sort of Reactionary Pope, a political appointee in the opposite direction, meant to appease populism rather than I guess Disco Elysium style subtly reinforcing it by way of a gentle-yet-controlled opposition.
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Pretty much this and age from what I understand lol. Pope Francis allegedly āstacked the courtsā with cardinals of his favor in the last few years, so thereās reason to believe someone cut from his cloth will wearā¦.the cloth, but who knows. As you said, itās just a bunch of queens fighting over what they think the church stands for and where it should go. A very ancient tradition that only in recent times has come under any sort of scrutiny from the laity (recent meaning since the invention of the printing press)
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I think the best possible future for Catholicism would be an institutional embrace of The Option For The Poor. Thatās what Francis was gesturing toward during his Papacy. Iām not exactly sure how the Catholic Church arrives at doctrinal pro-choice and liberal LGBT policy. TBH I dont think it will ever be better than socially uninvolved and broadly humanistic (which again was what Francis was hovering around). So given that the Catholic Church as an institution is a fact of life for the foreseeable future then being socially harmless and socio-economically just is probably the best outcome
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did he say that or is that just your policy?
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From the perspective of someone who took some classes in a seminary, including with some Catholics preparing for the priesthood, I would say that most of them were less dogmatic than the stereotypical Catholic priest or follower. What some might describe as dogmatism I would describe instead as institutionalism, which is to say that they develop at least two coordinating capacities:
- The ability to speak to the central texts, tenets, and rhetorical moves of their tradition, which opens the capacity to change dogma over time (they can talk the talk, which means they learn where they can press for what matters to them and where they need to wait)
- The belief that, whatever oneās personal feelings, maintaining the dogma of the faith is important for the sake of the laity and for the institution
In other words, it is eminently possible for a priest, bishop, cardinal, or even pope to hold a private disposition somewhat at odds with what they profess in public, and thus to have a quite nuanced view of dogma. I point all that out not to argue that Pope Francis was a closet LGBTQ ally or that a future pope will be but to recognize that many in the clergy would like to see incremental change, and weāre most likely to see it in gradual institutional movement clothed in arguments that make more sense from within, e.g., what yeso mentions with āThe Option for the Poor.ā
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+1 to this, especially the realpolitik reasoning.
Surprisingly, people who consider themselves Catholic has plateaued after a long decline with even an uptick in certain parts of the world, so itās reasonable to assume the church will continue to have influence over peopleās beliefs and how they conduct themselves. For this reason, I am hoping the next Pope is a good one.
This line of thinking right now is that if itās Chico, the Filipino guy, things will carry on in the Francis/good direction. If they pick an African Pope, where the church is growing the most, it will likely be a very conservative person (no bueno). Thereās also the option for another European Pope which would be a little anticlimactic lol, but also would go back to being normal and largely forgettable most likely.
On a separate but related note, I keep laughing to myself imagining Trump being so moved at Francisās funeral that he makes dramatic policy reversals.
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my policy 
I have a bunch of friends from college, originally from Manila, so Iāve learned a few phrases in tagalog over the years
I thought this opportunity would be a perfect time to break out my most useful tagalog phrase, āgay people are not welcome in my homeā
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I heard the College of Cardinals makes their selection via an intense tournament of āRock Papal Scissorsā.
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Yeah. Socially uninvolved is I think about as much as anyone can expect from the Catholic Church, and it would certainly be an improvement.
Like, I guess even as someone who is pro-choice, I think so long as the Catholic Church as an instituation sticks to internal debates on whether or not Roman Catholics specifically should or should not get abortions, and whether or not that sin can be forgiven, while conceding that it is not the Churchās place to affect a broader level of societal access to abortion, I couldnāt argue with that (I mean actually yeah I could but it probably wouldnāt be worth my time to do so).
I guess that speaks to the core contradiction in pro-choice, and why one doesnāt necessarily need to be pro-abortion to be pro-choice. And all that reveals the red herring the medical procedure itself is, in the whole debate, and how life beginning at conception or not is all just moving the goalposts around to suit political positions and consolidate social power in men. If a uterus bearing Roman Catholic whose life would be saved from having an abortion performed on them chooses to die as an expression of the intensity of their faithā¦ the pro-choice position would still be to not obstruct one from making that choice. I mean, thatās less hypocritical than Christian congressmen forcing their mistresses to get secret abortions I suppose.
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Will the new pope be another woke pope?
- Woke Pope!
- Nope Woke:(
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voters
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Perhaps the past holds a key to the futureā¦
With the huge caveat that I was raised Catholic and still consider myself Catholic even if the Catholic Church may disagree, I think thereās a lot of daylight between the potential successors in economics and climate change and global affairs and I thinknthat matters given how much influence the church holds, even if theyāre all going to be bad on a whole host of issues.
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all of these enthusiastic posts about catholicismā¦
the beautiful stained glassā¦
I canāt help but feel like Iām on the wrong side of history 
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Sorry Hunter. Unfortunately Catholic converts are usually nuclear grade level freaks and fascists (not that cradle Catholics are necessarily different, but better odds (as evident in this thread 
))
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Iām gonna be just like those Red Scare girls
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