Arathorn's explication is very applicable...because, regardless of their perspectives, doctors, mechanics and whatnot are judged based on their physical, empirical results. A mechanic that never gets a car fixed and a doctor that can't heal anyone will quickly run out of business.


Can you honestly say that you're ever witnessed a priest, rabbi or imam change something physically? Like, heal a blind man, even raise someone from the dead? Or can you prove, empirically, that when he blesses someone/something, or gives them sacraments, that they're helped with that? Of course not.

yes, they can give people who believe hope and purpose in their lives, but what do they do for humanity as a whole? What's their effect on people from other religions, atheïsts? Slim to none...and you see, a mechanic will fix your car (if it's still fixable, hehe) regardless if you're a christian, black, male, female, white, orange, devilworshipper, gay, pedo, commie, fasco, etc. That's the difference.


Btw, what do you think about women being excmuded from priesthood? And on the anticonception: since you said absence over birth control, would you agree that condoms should be allowed in Africa where aids is a HUGE epidemic? And on a more personal lvl: how do you avoid getting your wife pregnant then? Counting out the days in which conception is possible, or still the pill?

Also: when a car mechanic says that your car is broke, he can show you, maybe you've noticed something about it.
When a docter says you're ill, you might have been coughing, or having a headache, or ... .
These are all things you can verify to some level, observe with you own eyes.

As it comes to religion, it's something different.

Yep religion is something that a person needs to make their mind up on. It is not possible to force everyone to have the same mind set so why bother forcing your faith onto someone else

About the papabili (contenders for the papacy) that are being put forward I'd say that our very own Danneels is the best and most progressive candidate. And I'm not saying that because he's Belgian, the other candidates are strict conservative wankers or just not charismatic enough. Maybe Arinze can play a role in bridging with the Islam tho. Crap is, the Islam isn't a centralized religion like Catholicism, so one could wonder if it'd make much of a difference. Anyway, I present you the biggest candidates:


LATIN AMERICA

Cardinal Claudio Hummes, Brazil. Theologically conservative, but engaged in confronting poverty and other social problems, the Franciscan archbishop of San Paulo is considered one of the strongest Latin American candidates. He is cautious, open to debate with a good sense of humour. But his age may be a problem, since he is only 60.

Cardinal Jaime Lucas Ortega Y Alamino, Cuba. The Archbishop of Havana, Cardinal Ortega has kept the church alive in defiance of Cuba's communist regime. Many see parallels with John Paul II, whom he has closely supported. But his experience has been limited since he has been unable to travel outside Cuba and thus may not have a sufficiently global outlook to satisfy the job's demands.

Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga, Honduras. The personable archbishop of Tegucigalpa has long been seen as a rising star. He's been a strong advocate for the Church's antipoverty mission and teamed up with U2's Bono to present a petition at the G-8 meeting in 1999, asking for debt relief. He speaks near-perfect Italian and English along with passable French, Portuguese, German, Latin, and Greek, plays the piano, and has taken pilot training. But at 61, he may be considered too young.

Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, Colombia. Favorite of archconservatives, Cardinal Castrillon is the head of the Vatican office of the clergy. A defender of traditional doctrine, he's taken a bold stance against his country's powerful drug lords. He once dressed as a milkman and went to the house of notorious drug trafficker Pablo Escobar in Medellín to ask him to repent for his sins.

AFRICA

Cardinal Francis Arinze, Nigeria. The head of the Vatican Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue, Cardinal Arinze is the strongest African candidate and would be the first black pope in 1,500 years. A convert from animism, Arinze has worked in the Vatican for 20 years, many of them as the Pope's point man for relations with Islam. Personable and theologically conservative, Arinze has shown great loyalty to the current pope. But many say he is too close to the Vatican bureaucracy. Others are skeptical of a pontiff from Africa, where Catholicism has relatively shallow roots.

EUROPE

Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi, Italy. An Irish online gambling site puts Tettamanzi on top with 5 to 2 odds. But pope predictions are almost always wrong. His appointment two years ago as archbishop of Milan, Italy's largest diocese, was seen as an endorsement of his candidacy by Pope John Paul II. from the Milan archdiocese. Though a traditionalist on doctrine, Tettamanzi is considered a natural mediator with few enemies.

Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, Italy. After a successful career as a Vatican diplomat, Re became deputy to the Secretary of State, a key role as the Pope's chief of staff. A workaholic with unparalleled administrative skills, Re is regarded in some quarters as a perfect transitional figure. But his experience has been entirely within the Vatican, not as an archbishop, which may hurt his candidacy.

Carlo Maria Martini, Italy. Reads or speaks 11 languages and has written nearly 50 books. Martini has been a favorite of many Vatican watchers and insiders and often mentioned as a possible successor. Though not as telegenic as others, he is perceived as an intellectual giant among the cardinals. But he is considered by some to be too liberal and too popular. He is also a Jesuit, an order that has never produced a pope.

Cardinal Godfried Danneels, Belgium. A brilliant theologian, Danneels is an outspoken proponent of curial reform and collegiality. Widely-respected, he is seen as a unifying figure acceptable to both conservatives and progressives within the College of Cardinals. But he is no stranger to controversy. He recently said he could reluctantly accept the use of condoms as a means to stop the spread of AIDS, and in 2000, he caused consternation in the Vatican by suggesting that popes should not remain in office until they die but should have limited terms.

Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, Austria. Archbishop of Vienna, Schonborn is the general editor of the updated Catechism of the Catholic Church. Regarded as a sound administrator, he is among the most articulate of conservative cardinals. In speaking out on poverty and AIDS in Africa recently, he said, "The world, the human family cannot let a continent die." But at 60, he may be considered too young.

ASIA

Cardinal Ivan Dias, India. A no-nonsense conservative, he was ordained Archbishop of Mumbai (Bombay) in 1996. In 1964 he was appointed to the Vatican Secretariat of State, where he worked in the Eastern European division for nine years during the height of the Cold War. Speaking at least 16 languages, Dias knows global politics as few cardinals do. He is also a rare theological conservative among the Indian bishops, known for a more moderate stance.




But it probably won't be a progressive pope, since mr. ultraconservative himself appointed about 90% of the current cardinals. Anyway, my hopes are on Danneels, Martini and Maradiaga.

I don't really know, but the chances on a progressive pope will be very small. I think however that young age is more of an advantage then a disadvantage at the moment. Espescialy since the old pope tried a lot to reach out to the younger people in the world.