Favorite pope

[Usige]

Of the Popes alive during my time? Hands down Pope Benedict XVI. He was the Pope when I crossed the Tiber and likely one of the greatest theologians of this age. Saint Pope John Paul II comes in a close second.

Before the modern age, I really like Saint Gregory the Great.

 

[Stylteralmaldo]

For me, it is Saint Pope John Paul II the great. He had the rare ability to attract people from all walks of life. He was progressive yet conservative at the same time. I can’t think of another pope who fits both adjectives. Politically, he was instrumental in the fall of communism in the Soviet Union (not the main cause of it’s fall, but a key part of it in that he was instrumental in Poland’s resistence to communism there…where the fall of the communist block began). He brought the Church to the masses in the modern age. He made God’s Divine Mercy a focal point of his papacy. He wasn’t affraid to challenge people’s faith and had a steadfast love of Jesus’ mom. He brought us the Luminous mysteries of the Rosary and the Divine Mercy Chaplet. The dignity of human person was lived by this great man. While the world continues to reject the aged and disabled with disdain, he embraced his broken body throughout his papacy. His example of forgiveness of the man who shot him was a great example of peace. I could go on, but that’s a good place to start as to what he meant to me.

 

[Brendan_64]

I really cannot decide between Pope Benedict XVI and Pope St John Paul II.

Pope Benedict XVI is probably the greatest living Catholic theologian Pope St John Paul II took our Catholic Faith to the world and was instrumental in defeating Communism. Both were staunch defenders of orthodoxy.

I really cannot choose between these two great popes.

 

[chero23]

I agree. If I could pick a least favorite, then it would be Pope Francis, with all due respect.

Why?

 

[chero23]

I would say for my lifetime…

1. Benedict
   2)JPII
2. Francis (but he’s gaining)

 

[adawgj]

Pope Francis, St. Pope John Paul II, St. Pope John XXIII, Pope Pius XII, St. Peter

 

[Shawnq]

Pope John XXIII

 

[ringil]

Pope Francis.

That being said- I believe my favorite Pope would always be the current Pope as he would be the man God has chosen for us.

 

[Brendan_64]

Pope Francis.

That being said- I believe my favorite Pope would always be the current Pope as he would be the man God has chosen for us.

The cardinals choose the Pope. One would hope that each cardinal tries to discern which candidate the Holy Spirit is directing him to vote for, but ultimately it is the cardinals who choose the Pope.

 

[Kielbasi]

Every pope faces different challenges during their reign. To compare and say one is best is difficult and maybe unfair.

Over the centuries, popes had to deal with the fall of the RE, islamic invasions, crusades, reformations, schisms and heresies, world wars, being under siege and plagues.

Those that faced the greatest challenges are thought to be the greatest, but that is unfair to those who didn’t have the same challenges.

 

[kozlosap]

Papa Francis because he walks the walk and talks the talk of the GOSPELS!

 

[Angel_Bradford]

John XXIII

 

[porthos11]

The cardinals choose the Pope. One would hope that each cardinal tries to discern which candidate the Holy Spirit is directing him to vote for, but ultimately it is the cardinals who choose the Pope.

That’s right. I don’t know where this notion comes from, that God chooses the Pope. Men choose the Pope, specifically, the cardinals, and no one without his head in the sand knows that a conclave is just as political as any. All God has promised was that whoever is elected Pope will not err in teaching matters of faith and morals. Other than that, he left the dirty work to us. Which is just as well, so that we here can be accountable for our own actions in choosing the Pope.

So you are right. I don’t buy for a moment that God chooses the Pope. God will ensure the Pope never defines error, but that does not for a second mean he won’t be sloppy, careless, incompetent, corrupt, or the very spawn of hell. We may not get the Pope we need at any given time, but we will always, certainly, get the Pope we deserve.

That said, thank God for two wonderful Popes of my own lifetime, John Paul II and Benedict XVI. Also for the courage exhibited by Paul VI.

 

[Brendan_64]

That’s right. I don’t know where this notion comes from, that God chooses the Pope. Men choose the Pope, specifically, the cardinals, and no one without his head in the sand knows that a conclave is just as political as any. All God has promised was that whoever is elected Pope will not err in teaching matters of faith and morals. Other than that, he left the dirty work to us. Which is just as well, so that we here can be accountable for our own actions in choosing the Pope.

So you are right. I don’t buy for a moment that God chooses the Pope. God will ensure the Pope never defines error, but that does not for a second mean he won’t be sloppy, careless, incompetent, corrupt, or the very spawn of hell. We may not get the Pope we need at any given time, but we will always, certainly, get the Pope we deserve.

That said, thank God for two wonderful Popes of my own lifetime, John Paul II and Benedict XVI. Also for the courage exhibited by Paul VI.

I think it is quite dangerous to regard any pope (with the exception of Peter) to have been personally chosen by God. Once we go down that route we get dangerously close to a view that we can never disagree with or criticise anything any pope says because he has personally been chosen by God to be the pope.

 

[Mark121359]

The cardinals choose the Pope. One would hope that each cardinal tries to discern which candidate the Holy Spirit is directing him to vote for, but ultimately it is the cardinals who choose the Pope.

That’s right. I don’t know where this notion comes from, that God chooses the Pope. Men choose the Pope, specifically, the cardinals, and no one without his head in the sand knows that a conclave is just as political as any. All God has promised was that whoever is elected Pope will not err in teaching matters of faith and morals. Other than that, he left the dirty work to us. Which is just as well, so that we here can be accountable for our own actions in choosing the Pope.

So you are right. I don’t buy for a moment that God chooses the Pope. God will ensure the Pope never defines error, but that does not for a second mean he won’t be sloppy, careless, incompetent, corrupt, or the very spawn of hell. We may not get the Pope we need at any given time, but we will always, certainly, get the Pope we deserve.

That said, thank God for two wonderful Popes of my own lifetime, John Paul II and Benedict XVI. Also for the courage exhibited by Paul VI.

I think it is quite dangerous to regard any pope (with the exception of Peter) to have been personally chosen by God. Once we go down that route we get dangerously close to a view that we can never disagree with or criticise anything any pope says because he has personally been chosen by God to be the pope.

Pope-emeritus Benedict XVI would agree with you! In 1997, when asked on Bavarian television whether or not the Spirit chooses the pope, the then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger answered:

“I would not say so, in the sense that the Holy Spirit picks out the Pope…I would say that the Spirit does not exactly take control of the affair, but rather like a good educator, as it were, leaves us much space, much freedom, without entirely abandoning us. Thus the Spirit’s role should be understood in a much more elastic sense, not that he dictates the candidate for whom one must vote. Probably the only assurance he offers is that the thing cannot be totally ruined.”

Peace, Mark

 

[PJM]

Im just curious as to everyone’s favorite successors of St Peter are. The ones I admire the most are definitely JPII and Gregory XIII. Though I see a lot of Francis-bashing around here and Im not quite sure why.
Any and all (name removed by moderator)ut is greatly appreciated

In MY lifetime {I’m 71} Saint Pope John II, closely followed by Benedict XVI.

In the lsit now approaching 300;

Peter and the 1st Popes ALL of who had to understand that in assuming and answeriings GOD’S call they were signing personal death warrants. Amen:thumbsup:

 

[malphono]

Chronologically in the 19th, 20th & 21st Centuries, for me it’s the three “forgotten” ones: Benedict XV, Pius XI, and Benedict XVI. In prior times, it’s a lot more complicated, but Celestine V comes to mind.

 

[OraLabora]

I’ve lived under every pope since Pius XII (albeit for a very short time for him as I was born only a few months before he died).

As pope, I really like Francis the best, I think, for bringing us back to Gospel values and for himself walking the talk. I would rate John XXIII a close second behind him for his humility and courage in calling the Council, and Paul VI was prophetic concerning the impact of artificial birth control.

I also think Saint John Paul II was a great pope especially for his role in ending communism, but he could have his blind spots (the case of Fr. Maciel comes to mind). I have very mixed feelings about Benedict XVI as pope, but greatly admire him as theologian, teacher and writer.

And let’s not forget that the liturgical reform that climaxed after Vatican II was begun by Pius XII who appointed Mgr. Annibale Bugnini to a commission to study liturgical reform in 1948, a very important milestone IMHO

 

[jinglebelle]

Papa Francis because he walks the walk and talks the talk of the GOSPELS!

He certainly does and ruffles some cardinals in the process.He makes us rethink things and makes some uncomfortable.

 

[Belshazzar]

Chronologically in the 19th, 20th & 21st Centuries, for me it’s the three “forgotten” ones: Benedict XV, Pius XI, and Benedict XVI. In prior times, it’s a lot more complicated, but Celestine V comes to mind.

I, too, have a special affinity for the forgotten popes like Pope Benedict XV. If the world would have listened to his proposals regarding the first World War, we could have avoided the second one. Like Pius XII and John Paul II, he was a mystic and a man of deep spirituality. On May 5, 1917, in response to the war which he called the “suicide of Europe,” he consecrated the world to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through the mediation of Mary and placed the peace of the world in her hands by adding the title “Queen of Peace” to the Litany of Loreto. Eight days later, the Virgin Mary responded by her apparition to the shepherd children of Fatima.
This is the only live footage of him known to exist.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiqYDEwkFaM