Do you think it’s about time to put in younger Popes?

[smahala1991]

Pope Francis is in critical condition from Pneumonia. Considering the age of modern popes, do you think it’s time to start considering younger and more modernized Popes? Maybe like ditch the robe for a suit and tie approach too?

Updates

1 y

No I’m not catholic

[BCRanger10]

Define "young". Pope John Paul II was 58 when he was elected, which, by papal standards, is considered young.

At any rate, I'd be happy with a "younger" pope, provided he was conservative, traditional, and orthodox. There is one cardinal who at least appears to fit those criteria, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa (yes, that's his real name). He's the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem. He is currently 59 and will turn 60 in April.

That's him...

And you'll also need to define "modernized". I say that because they have in fact been doing that since the 1960s, with Paul VI laying down the papal tiara and starting to trim back on the pomp and circumstance that came with the office. John Paul II turned it into almost an item of pop culture, turned the pope into something of a "rock star". The long-term results of all this have not been great. Benedict XVI tried reigning all that madness in, but faced serious resistance and was ultimately ineffective.

Then along came Pope Francis, who in 12 years hasn't found a single issue or person that he hasn't pandered to. He, an 88-year-old man, has been spouting all the usual "we need to stop living in the past; the kids all want this" nonsense that I've been hearing from popular culture my entire life. All the while promoting and reviving every sexual predator he can possibly find, but I digress...

So no. It's time for the Church to abandon all these goofy attempts at "modernizing". We've tried using the pop-influenced "hymns" on guitars at Mass, we've tried nuns belting out Alicia Keys on The Voice, we've tried "rich white guys bad, climate change propaganda good" nonsense. It hasn't worked. If it's modern, it's not transcendent. We need to be done trying to score brownie points from people who are never going to come to Mass anyway.

[Phoenix98]

That's not how it works. It's not up to us it's up to the cardinals.

A new pope is elected by the College of Cardinals in a process called a conclave where the cardinals vote in secret ballots until a candidate receives a two-thirds majority.

And they are only going to vote for someone they think upholds the traditions and values of the catholic church.

I'm also not catholic.

[Anonymous]

This will be the second pope in 800 years who has resigned. How did they get through 800 years of never resigning no matter what, and then the last 2 popes do?

[DryGermanGuy]

Not disagreeing with you, but the whole election system is set up so that a new pope is chosen from among the cardinals, and these are old white men closer to 80 than to 70.

[princeofromance]

Yes, so they don't die as quick as they are elected.

[NathanDavis]

the Vatican is about to get lit...