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BBC News - LIVE: Pope Benedict XVI says he will resign, ANSA reports
Italian news agency ANSA reports Pope Benedict XVI is to resign

This is a link to live text with updates.

by Fran on Mon Feb 11th, 2013 at 06:13:09 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Benedict follows in the footsteps of the Queen of the Netherlands. Juan Carlos of Spain cannot be far behind...

I distribute. You re-distribute. He gives your hard-earned money to lazy scroungers. -- JakeS
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon Feb 11th, 2013 at 06:18:30 AM EST
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King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden has been asked from time to time when he plans to retire. It appears he does not, though Queen Sylvia is often regarded to be the brains in the royal couple, so she might retire him. ¨Crown princess Victoria is more popular anyways.

Sweden's finest (and perhaps only) collaborative, leftist e-newspaper Synapze.se
by A swedish kind of death on Mon Feb 11th, 2013 at 08:32:10 AM EST
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more scandals to come at the Vatican.

i.e. there is bad shit coming, and this is what Benny is not strong enough for.

It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II

by eurogreen on Mon Feb 11th, 2013 at 06:59:19 AM EST
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A talkback on La Repubblica suggests that this is a preventive measure in case the Germans check up on his dissertation....
by gk (gk (gk quattro due due sette @gmail.com)) on Mon Feb 11th, 2013 at 07:08:27 AM EST
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Um - child abuse coverups? Dodgy financial dealings? Links to money laundering? Genocide in Africa through condom abstinence?

Short of organised drug pushing, firm evidence of satanic paedophile orgies, and the news that Benedict had sex with Britney Spears and Tony Blair at the same time, I'm finding it hard to imagine what could be worse.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Mon Feb 11th, 2013 at 07:54:01 AM EST
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New WW2 papers to be released?
by asdf on Mon Feb 11th, 2013 at 03:00:20 PM EST
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Maybe this DK diary from January 27th this year shows some of the reasons for his resignation.

Daily Kos: Implosion at the Vatican - One Can Only Hope

Two Vatican experts have used the word "implosion" to describe the current state of affairs at the Holy See: Robert Mickens, Vatican correspondent for The Tablet published in Britain, and Massimo Franco, a veteran political writer for Corriere della Sera, Italy's most prestigious daily newspaper, who said there are "conflicts within the Vatican `worthy of the epoch of the Borgias'.... There's a palpable sense of fin du régime in the Roman air, he says."

For the sake of their sexually-tortured victims; women and gays; all those past, present and future who will suffer hardship and shortened life spans from the alliance of Church and plutocracy; the poor, the sick and marginalized; we can only hope it comes sooner than later.

The following is an outline of the tensions and turmoil leading to these experts' prediction.

by Fran on Mon Feb 11th, 2013 at 07:48:38 AM EST
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I don't buy it:
When the neoconservatives installed Karol Wojtyla as Pope John Paul II, the US was the richest country in the world. The goal was to use the Catholic hierarchy to lead the Religious Right in securing Republican victories and, like a giant vacuum cleaner, the plutocrats would suck the wealth of the US into their own pockets.

At the time, John Paul II had little interest in the EU, "disliking the free hand it seems to give member states on abortion, euthanasia or meddling with human genetics, and what he judges to be its materialist foundations."  

But now, the EU is largest economy in the world. "States hand over sovereignty to markets...the market always dominates policy...and bankers took over Europe."

The plutocrats possibly set up the "eurocentric" Joseph Ratzinger as Wojtyla's successor to emulate their success in the US with financial hegemony in Europe. The Church could again use abortion and same-sex marriage to "sanctify" pro-business factions.

Yeah, right. And this all proves that the Rapture is afoot.

I distribute. You re-distribute. He gives your hard-earned money to lazy scroungers. -- JakeS
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon Feb 11th, 2013 at 08:30:40 AM EST
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Simple test: who do they predict will be the next Pope, and why?
by gk (gk (gk quattro due due sette @gmail.com)) on Mon Feb 11th, 2013 at 08:32:35 AM EST
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Read that as "NASA reports".
by Number 6 on Mon Feb 11th, 2013 at 07:56:35 AM EST
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Papillon (Papiillon) on Twitter
Papillon@Papiillon

RT @SophiaAram: Remarque, ca fait longtemps que Dieu a démissionné et on en fait pas tout un plat. #Pape #Démission

"Well, God resigned long ago, and nobody makes a fuss about that."

It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II

by eurogreen on Mon Feb 11th, 2013 at 08:18:39 AM EST
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