Benedict XVI
I'm glad we have a new Pope. However I am a bit upset with that choice. I think he is a bit too conservative. Though I am glad there is a chance (not trying to be morbid) that he will die within the next 5 years. A short reigning Pope is what we need now. Transitional because to many of us, the Pope is permanent, something for an entire life. But there are plenty of things up front that I don't like about what i know of this pope. He was quoted as saying he was willing "To loose size in order to have a more pure church". Alright Slobidan. Don't you think you should do something more along the lines of expand AND purify? You know, invest in getting people back in the church? America, Western Europe? I know I seem to be down on third world countries, but you cannot support an organization like the Catholic church if they are your base. Invest some time and money into your parishes. Send out letters inviting people back to church. And not just the people in the directory, those are the people who come to church. Go to the city, get the population of your parish, the REAL population, write a letter, maybe even a few versions! stick them in some envelopes and have people walk door to door and just drop them in the mail box. Walking, I know, so un-American. Do that and see how your population goes up. And the same could be said about joining the priesthood/sisterhood. Maybe the church needs to be more aggressive. Don't wait so much for people to come to you, go to them, more so than you already do. A visit to your strongest school once every 2 years does not count. Go more often, and to more schools. Also, dwell on priests being normal guys, and the whole community. Thats all for now.