I figured, since there’s all this talk of the new Pope being elected and Pope Benedict XVI retiring, which hasn’t happened for the last 600 years, I would tie it into religion; since, after all, the Pope is Catholic, and Catholicism is a religion. Moreover, having experimented with Catholicism myself, I figured, why not?  Please remember, although I tried to make this blog as objective as possible, there is no doubt that I am biased, based on my own personal beliefs, religious upbringings, and culture of my personal country. Therefore, if you feel as though I have made an incorrect assumption, or falsely directed fact, please pull to my attention; or make a comment below. I want this to be a place where you can become educated to make and form your own opinion—not that of anybody or mine.

If you want to know how to become Pope, watch the video I posted below, which I think accurately portrays the complex process to being elected Pope. Although, some might portray that the Catholic Church as sexist, as they do not allow women to hold the position of the Papacy, others argue that there are distinct roles between Man and Woman to be held in the Church—which I will touch on next week. Until then, I will talk briefly about Catholicism, but mainly of why the selection of the Pope is important, even if you are not Catholic.

First off, you will be more educated in knowing how the Pope is elected, even if your Atheist—lacking belief in God(s); Agnostic—claiming neither faith, nor disbelief in a higher power; or a different religion—Jewish, Islamic, Buddhist, Hindu, etc. You need to know the other side’s argument even better than yours to hold a good “discussion” or heated debate. Secondly, if you are currently finding a religious or spiritual calm in your heart, you might be genuinely curious for your own interests of how the Catholic Church works. Third, as discussed in the Global Perspectives blog, it is important to be understanding, accepting, and open to other’s cultures, which is also tied into other’s religions, or their abstinence of religion in their culture (as most cultures do have a religious aspect tied within it).

Therefore, knowing that the selection of the Pope affects about 1.2 billion people directly (1,200,000,000) (How Many…), and indirectly, a whole lot more! The Catholic Church has HUGE financial resources available to them, and ultimately, the Pope decides where this money is funneled (Bruni). In addition, according to The Economist, Catholic Church Institutions employ about one million people world wide—that’s almost equal to their followers! They also donate $10.2 billion dollars per year—though critics say that it’s not enough, as it’s only six percent of their estimated $170 billion yearly income (The Economist); however, these debatable ethical dilemmas aren’t for this blog—we can discuss that another day. 

Ultimately, its important to know why you should care about the selection of the new Pope, as he has MAJOR influence throughout the entire world, impacting people on a daily basis.  So I hope you learned something about the Church that you didn’t know today … and maybe it even sparked something in your soul, whether it be religiously affiliated with the Church or not.

~ Delaney