Reply #27: Seems to me that John Paul II was much more into the humility thing than Ratzo is

[Berry Cool]

and that's why, if you pay any attention to the pope at all (which I tend not to), he didn't seem so bad. True, I didn't agree with all his stances on issues, but that was hardly surprising given that he was Catholic and I am not. At least he was consistent--he was against both abortion AND the death penalty, for example. He believed both were examples of man taking away life that was only God's to take away. He didn't vilify abortion and glorify execution at the same time.

As for Ratzo, he kind of reminds me of why Lutherans such as the ones I spring from came to be. You know: because the Vatican became a symbol of wealth and riches and power exercised in a kingdom on earth, and, as the OP has pointed out, that was never what Jesus was about in the first place.