Pope To Resign

[Guest fountainhall]

That photo was Blessing and Holding the Bible, Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey, Europe

 

Is there anywhere abang1961 has not been? Yes, it's one of the old mosaics on the upper floor of the Hagia Sophia!

[Guest fountainhall]

How did some women react to news of Benedict's resignation? By dancing topless in Paris' Notre Dame Cathedral!
 

 

A group of topless activists scandalized visitors at Paris' Notre Dame Cathedral on Tuesday by disrobing in public to celebrate Pope Benedict XVI's resignation.

The small group of women, all affiliated with radical feminist group FEMEN, flashed their breasts and banged on bells in the cathedral, shouting slogans such as, "Bye Bye Benedict" and "No more homophobe," according to the Agence France-Presse . . . FEMEN appears to have little to no love for the outgoing pontiff, whom the group blasted on its website for his stance on same-sex marriage.

The "French Femen sextremists" were allegedly playing a "funeral march" for the pope.

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/12/topless-femen-activists-hail-popes-resignation-shout-no-more-homophobe-notre-dame_n_2670611.html

 

A final pic which may stump abang1961! Can you guess where this religious building is located? A country will be suffice! 
 

[Guest thaiworthy]

Can you guess where this religious building is located?

 

The Catedral Metropolitana, Buenos Aires, Argentina. The inscription around the base of the dome seen here is EGO VICI MUNDUM - "I have conquered the world" (from John 16:33).

 

The Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral (Spanish: Catedral Metropolitana de Buenos Aires) is the main Catholic church in Buenos Aires,Argentina. It is located in the city center, overlooking Plaza de Mayo, on the corner of San Martín and Rivadavia streets, in the San Nicolás neighbourhood. It is the mother church of the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires.

The Cathedral of Buenos Aires was rebuilt several times since its humble origins in the 16th century. The present building is a mix of architectural styles, with an 18th-century nave and dome and a severe, 19th-century Neoclassical façade without towers. The interior keeps precious 18th-century statues and altarpieces, as well as abundant Neo-Renaissance and Neo-Baroque decoration.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buenos_Aires_Metropolitan_Cathedral

 

This should make up for the Papal Cat picture.

[Guest jomtien]

 

 

This should make up for the Papal Cat picture.

 

Nothing will make up for the Papal Cat picture.

[Guest thaiworthy]

Despite what you might think Jomtien, I must keep my word to poor Fountainhall-- no more cat pictures.

 

 

Anyone want a link to a good homeless dog charity? I got a really good one to benefit cross-eyed monkeys, too.


 

[Rogie]

One last cat picture that I stole from Traveler Jim on Facebook.

 

I do hope Traveller Jim has recovered from his time in hospital. I say that because surely the rightful place for the Papal Cat (assuming he is elected what name might he choose?) is in a thread on GT called 'Pope to Resign', NOT on Facebook. What other glories are we missing here that Facebook-users are privy to? Do they get all the scoops as well?

 

In any case its chances are slim, it looks far too young to me.

 

Those puppies are just adorable. Did you find that litter on Facebook too, TW?

[Guest fountainhall]

 

The Catedral Metropolitana, Buenos Aires, Argentina

 

Right! The next photos I post will not be identifiable with a quick check on google!!

[Guest abang1961]

Is there anywhere abang1961 has not been?

 

Far too many to name just a few.. like the bedrooms of many ...

And yes, South America...I just cant find a travelling partner to go to this exotic continent

... I will like to see the Mardi Gras and the Brazilian hunks...ok, bikini babes (if a straight man will to ask me..)

[Guest thaiworthy]

What other glories are we missing here that Facebook-users are privy to? Do they get all the scoops as well?

 

Thanks, Rogie. I put some photos in an album here in the Gallery section. I added the funny captions myself.

 

http://www.gaythailand.com/forums/gallery/image/131-facebook-1/

 

There are 20 photos with captions that are Facebook postings from the past and future. The artwork came from Erik Johansson of Sweden, who granted permission to share them as long as his name is mentioned. They are really stunning photographs and quite unusual.

[bkkguy]

What other glories are we missing here that Facebook-users are privy to?

 

forget facebook, for on-topic listening download yesterday's BBC Radio 4 Friday Night Comedy "Now Show" podcast for some great papal jokes ("Catholics are supposed to give up something for Lent" etc) and the skit about the tortoises and the "horsing around" on food contamination are great listening!

 

I usually prefer "News Quiz" to the "Now Show" but both are classic English comedy!

 

bkkguy

[KhorTose]

To hell with cats and dog.  I have a real nominee for Pope.

 

[TotallyOz]

And yes, South America...I just cant find a travelling partner to go to this exotic continent

... I will like to see the Mardi Gras and the Brazilian hunks...

South America is beautiful and one of my favorite destinations.

 

Take a look at the guys in this thread:

http://www.boytoy.com/forums/index.php?/topic/12887-the-sexiest-guy-i-ever-met-in-rio/

 

and this one:

http://www.boytoy.com/forums/index.php?/topic/13111-favorite-photos-of-a-favorite-rio-guy/

 

here is a thread on the trip a friend of mine took to Rio last year:

http://www.boytoy.com/forums/index.php?/topic/8905-rio-january-2012/

 

and lastly my thread on my trip to Brazil on a budget:

http://www.boytoy.com/forums/index.php?/topic/5429-brazil-on-a-budget-a-nutty-totallyoz-adventure/

 

I am currently in the planning stages for my trip in less than 2 weeks to Brazil again for one month. I have

 

10 days in Sao Paulo

4 days in Fortaleza

3 days in Salvador

4 days in Porto Alegre

9 days in Rio

 

(I have used points for every city except Salvador and will stay in all hotels for free. Another reason I am a point whore)

 

and I may add on 5 days in Belo Horizente at the end of the trip depending on how tired I am. I'll be traveling with my friend tomcal who posted the first 3 thread above. He is a bit of a sauna slut and last trip I was there with him, I could not really keep up and was so tired at the end of my week with him that I needed a week's vacation to recover from my vacation.

 

In summary Abang, you MUST make some time and go to Brazil. It really is paradise and it one of my favorite places on earth.

[Guest fountainhall]

Koko just failed to get elected as President of the US. Will he be in the running for Pope? Surely that will mean a new logo for the campaign?

[Guest fountainhall]

Take a look at the guys in this thread:

 

You have to be a member to see them 

[kokopelli]

Koko just failed to get elected as President of the US. Will he be in the running for Pope? Surely that will mean a new logo for the campaign?

Hmmm! Popopelli does have a nice sound to it. Maybe I should throw my mitre into the ring.

[TotallyOz]

You have to be a member to see them 

It is a free site. But, you are right, like most forums, it does require you to register in order to see the photos. The threads are still good and have good information if you want to travel to Brazil and you can easily view without registering.

[Guest fountainhall]

Could things get any worse for the Papacy? We’ve had the exposure of the culture of paedophile priests around the world, the cover-ups and the huge payouts for past sins, gay priests, priests with children, the Vatileaks scandal with the Pope’s own butler leaking oodles of information about corruption in the highest places and portraying the Vatican as a hotbed of jealousy, intrigue and factional infighting.

Well, I’m sorry to say: yes, there is worse news. This time the miscreants are . . . wait for it . . . nuns! Holy Mother of . . . !

It has transpired that an Irish publican in County Kerry (goodness! It could only be Ireland, you’d think!) has been prosecuted after police found 51 nuns on the premises drinking illegally, several hours after closing time.

Shock! Horror! Here are two photographed outside the pub, one clearly with a pint in hand (or should that be a half litre?).


Photo: lundyphoto.com

Clearly, though, we must now draw aside the veil.

With a hint of an apology, we must point out that the nuns in question had not been ordained. Some indeed were of the male sex.    For the reason the ‘nuns’ were in the pub was in celebration of a singular success: a new world record for the “largest ever gathering of people dressed as nuns!”

The event raised about €26,000 for a worthy local charity, Pieta House, a suicide and self-harm-awareness charity. The idea had been thought up by a couple who had lost their 17-year old son to suicide. The organizing committee had sought the reaction of the local convent and a parish priest before proceeding with the record attempt. Both saw the humour and gave their agreement.

So, good on 'em ‘nuns’!   And good on the local Church hierarchy for giving their blessing.

More at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21534215


Murphy approached Mulligan's bar. On the step outside he was accosted by a nun, Sister Marie, who said:

"Surely a fine man like yourself is not going into this den of iniquity? Surely you're not going to waste your hard-earned cash on the devil's brew. Why don't you go home and feed and clothe your wife and children?"
 

"Hang on, Sister," spluttered Murphy. "How can you condemn alcohol out of hand? Surely it's wrong to form such a rash judgement when you've never tasted the stuff?"
 

"Very well," said Sister Marie. "I’ll taste it just to prove my point. Obviously I can't go into the pub, so why don't you bring me some gin. Oh, and just to camouflage my intent, maybe you should bring it in a cup not a glass!"
 

"OK," said Murphy and into the bar he breezed.
 

"I'll have a large gin," he said to the barman. "And can you put it in a cup?"
 

"My God," said the barman, "that nun's not outside again is she?"

[Guest abang1961]

I thought Irish nuns were only guilty of Magdalene laundries (asylums)!

Now, we know how so much more beyond the facade ...of religions...

[Guest thaiworthy]

Please note: This is not a picture of a cat. (But it could have been!)

 

Chances are that Fountainhall won't have a clue who this really is, but I certainly don't want him thinking it's another pussy.

 

[Guest fountainhall]

Looks like it could be one of two posters who sometimes posted here. No Names!! 

[Guest fountainhall]

This is on a much more serious note. It suggests that the “explosive” revelation of the existence of “Vatican gay officials” was a key reason for the Pope’s resignation

There have been several insinuations on various sites that the Pope’s resignation has far less to do with ailing health than it has with yet more scandals about to engulf his Church. Vatileaks, it appears, may yet have similar results to wikileaks in the depth of its revelations.

Italy’s La Repubblica newspaper has printed this article centering on a report prepared by a commission of three Cardinals about the discovery of a newtwork of gay prelates in the Vatican, some of whom – the report alleges – “were being blackmailed by outsiders.”
 

 

According to La Repubblica, the dossier comprising "two volumes of almost 300 pages – bound in red" had been consigned to a safe in the papal apartments and would be delivered to the pope's successor upon his election.

The newspaper said the cardinals described a number of factions, including one whose members were "united by sexual orientation".

In an apparent quotation from the report, La Repubblica said some Vatican officials had been subject to "external influence" from laymen with whom they had links of a "worldly nature". The paper said this was a clear reference to blackmail.
It quoted a source "very close to those who wrote [the cardinal's report]" as saying: "Everything revolves around the non-observance of the sixth and seventh commandments."

 

The seventh enjoins against theft. The sixth forbids adultery, but is linked in Catholic doctrine to the proscribing of homosexual acts.

La Repubblica said the cardinals' report identified a series of meeting places in and around Rome. They included a villa outside the Italian capital, a sauna in a Rome suburb, a beauty parlour in the centre, and a former university residence that was in use by a provincial Italian archbishop.

 

Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, said: "Neither the cardinals' commission nor I will make comments to confirm or deny the things that are said about this matter. Let each one assume his or her own responsibilities. We shall not be following up on the observations that are made about this."

Nether confirming nor denying a media report can often suggest it is true. On the other hand, there are certain organisations who never comment on media speculation – e.g. the head of the British monarchy whose household adopts this position in every situation. The paper added, however, that the Pope made his decision to resign on December 17, the very day he received this dossier compiled by the Cardinals delegated to look into the Vatileaks affair.
 

 

La Repubblica's report was the latest in a string of claims that a gay network exists in the Vatican . . . The Vatican does not condemn homosexuals. But it teaches that gay sex is "intrinsically disordered". Pope Benedict has barred sexually active gay men from studying for the priesthood.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/21/pope-retired-amid-gay-bishop-blackmail-inquiry

[kokopelli]

Sounds like something out of the next Dan Brown novel.

[Guest fountainhall]

And so it continues.

 

As the leaders of the Catholic Church prepare to meet in Rome to elect a new Pope, three priests and a former priest have reported Britain’s most senior Catholic, Cardinal Keith O’Brien, over allegations of “inappropriate behaviour” dating back 30 years.
 

 

O'Brien, who is due to retire next month, has been an outspoken opponent of gay rights, condemning homosexuality as immoral, opposing gay adoption, and most recently arguing that same-sex marriages would be "harmful to the physical, mental and spiritual well-being of those involved". Last year he was named "bigot of the year" by the gay rights charity Stonewall.

One of the complainants, it is understood, alleges that the cardinal developed an inappropriate relationship with him, resulting in a need for long-term psychological counselling.

The four submitted statements containing their claims to the nuncio's office the week before Pope Benedict's resignation on 11 February. They fear that, if O'Brien travels to the forthcoming papal conclave to elect a new pope, the church will not fully address their complaints.

The claims have been contested.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/23/cardinal-keith-o-brien-accused-inappropriate

[Guest fountainhall]

Cardinal O'Brien has resigned and it is understood the Pope has accepted his resignation. Due to retire next month at the age of 75, he now leaves the Church and will not take part in the forthcoming conclave. The arch defender of Catholic teaching on abortion, euthanasia and homosexuality thus departs with his legacy in tatters.

[Guest fountainhall]

There’s another article by a TV programme maker in today’s Guardian about the “trenchant” anti-gay rhetoric of proclaimed bigots like the fallen Cardinal O’Brien, brought down by the very sin he ranted against, and the “inverted homophobia” he labored under. As the writer, a gay Catholic, points out, the Cardinal is far from alone, as the exposure of preachers, ministers and even Senators elsewhere has shown.
 

 

For our programme, Queer and Catholic, we interviewed two men from the English College in Rome who had fallen in love while training for the priesthood. In seminary they had tried to have open and frank discussions about homosexuality but were told by staff and many fellow students alike that this was not the done thing.

In the TV interview, one of them reported on the fact that it was frequently the very men who were out and about in Rome engaging in casual sexual acquaintances in the Monte Capitolino, a nearby park, who were often the most vehemently homophobic in the seminars on sexual ethics.

He then makes the perceptive comment –
 

 

The knee-jerk reaction is to scream "hypocrite", but I take a more measured view. The coming to light of these tales is a positive development. "Methinks the lady doth protest" is a well worn cliche, but from here on in, those who seek to cover their own guilty tracks by the uncharitable nature of their words know that a watching public is getting wiser to some of the unfortunate mind games that have been played out over the decades.

In the future, when as a gay Catholic I hear a senior cleric describing my orientation in hostile and uncompromising language, I might just want to ask a poignant question: is this really about me, or is it more about you?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/feb/26/anti-gay-rhetoric-of-religious-leaders

 

 

Pope to remain "Pope Bendict XVI"

 

And it has just been announced that instead of reverting to plain Joseph Ratzinger, the present Pope will be titled Pope Emeritus and retain the name Benedict XVI. He will also be addressed by the honorific "Your Holiness". So there will after all be two Popes, despite what the Vatican has been saying since the resignation was announced.