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That vile political machine-man Ratzinger is Pope. I first had rumblings in my colon about this jerk back in 1996 during a massive argument with some American guys who were trying to weasel their way out of being both Catholic and Freemason. I said at the time that if you're going to pretend to be Catholic then you have to listen to ex Cathedra statements and take heed of them, even if someone as nasty as Ratzinger is involved.
Being an institution of beauty and wonder, the Craft doesn't discriminate amongst its candidates on the basis of religion. However on the other side, there is a specific proscription in the old Codex of Canon Law that prohibits a Catholic from becoming a Mason. It relies on the Papal Bull "In Eminenti" from 1738.
The NEW Codex of Canon Law seemed to relax that proscription, removing explicit reference to Freemasonry; this led some Catholics to believe that they could be Freemasons without being in a state of grave sin (as the old Codex has read)
Local diocesan authorities were permitting Freemasons to receive communion, so the New Torquemada issued an encyclical ("Quaesitum Est") which made clear that the position had not changed one iota.
Let's hope that Benedict XVI has the same tenure as John Paul I.
And so much for the media's claim of a supposed battle of the wills between "moderates" in the Conclave, and conservatives... JPII didn't appoint any moderates, so the 'moderates' were about as moderate as Mussolini. And Ratzinger is an arch-conservative. So we're back to the "women as brood mares" school, and don't be surprised if Masses are in Latin with the priest's back to the Congregation - just as Opus Dei does it.
there have been worse choices for Pope, but most of them were named Borgia or Medici; when you have to rely on comparison with syphilitic incestuous maniacs in order to look good, somethin' ain't right.
