The Catholic Message Board

In a big public ceremony at what I will always call Comminsky Park instead of the dumb corporate sell-out name, they held a huge public Mass and celebration of the Pope, complete with a televised message (in English, of course) on the jumbotron from the pontiff.

This is amazing, this is clearly about more than just the usual excitement over a new Pope, this hype, along with all the merchandise that has already sold in the millions despite the fact that much of it hasn't even been made yet. A Pope Leo bobblehead offered by the National Museum of Bobbleheads has already sold over a million pre-orders despite the fact that it won't even arrive until October. This excitement is mostly about his being an American. I wonder if this will spark a mini-revival in the Church.

Is this what Poland, Germany, and Argentina went through?

Doom wrote: ↑Sun Jun 15, 2025 8:49 am A Pope Leo bobblehead offered by the National Museum of Bobbleheads has already sold over a million pre-orders despite the fact that it won't even arrive until October.

If they sell one with Leo wearing a White Sox jersey, count me in! I'd bet a pension check that that one would do quite well.

His election seems providential and can't be a coincidence. Our country is at a tipping point spiritually, morally, politically, and culturally.

Either there will be a revival, or he was elected to shepherd us through some very rough waters. Probably both.

Peetem wrote: ↑Mon Jun 16, 2025 8:02 am His election seems providential and can't be a coincidence. Our country is at a tipping point spiritually, morally, politically, and culturally.

Either there will be a revival, or he was elected to shepherd us through some very rough waters. Probably both.

I think this is unprecedented in Church history: four popes, from four different countries. There have been foreign Popes before, of course, but except for the string of French Popes during the Avignon Papacy, there haven't been a bunch of foreign Popes in a row. Generally, there has been a succession of Italian Popes, followed by a foreign Pope, and then another succession of Italian Popes. Having 4 Popes from 4 different countries in a row is a sign that the Church really has become universal.

One popular anti-Catholic pamphlet that made it rounds for decades was addressed by Karl Keating in "Catholicism and Fundamentalism", one of the points is "I am an American and I refuse to be the subject of a deluded Italian prince", that line of attack becomes more and more irrelevant with each passing year, especially with an American Pope. I think the international flavor of the Papacy is here to stay. I don't think we will see another Italian Pope in our lifetime. It will probably happen again at some point, but not anytime soon, and when it does happen, the Italians won't regain dominance; it will be just a blip in another long line of foreign Popes.

Doom wrote: ↑Sun Jun 15, 2025 8:49 am Is this what Poland, Germany, and Argentina went through?

Poland certainly but I don't think Ratzinger was popular in Germany. No idea about Argentina

According to Seanie, our former poster on the old board who lived in Germany, there was a great buzz and excitement in Germany when Ratzinger was elected Pope. He said that all the newspapers ran editorials saying that a German Pope puts a good face on modern Germany "now the world will see something good come out of Germany"