I was wondering- does the Pope ever endorse a candidate for political office? Has he in the past? It seems to me that he would be inclined to endorse Bush because of his anti-abortion stance, although he did come out against the war. Most Europeans seem to distrust Bush because of the disrespect he's shown them in the past. Although, since Pope John Paul II was (is?) a socialist, he might be in favor of some parts of Nader's platform. What I really wanted to know was: has a Pope ever come out and supported a political candidate, especially a Presidential candidate, for office? Does he plan to this November?

-- Anti-bush (Comrade_bleh@hotmail.com), April 21, 2004

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-- The Bumper! (Bump@bumpitybump.bump), April 21, 2004.

I was wondering- does the Pope ever endorse a candidate for political office?

All Bishops seldom if ever endorse any candidate for political office. For both pastural and practical reasons. It is much more common for them to speak out against a proposition or legislation then it is for them to speak out against a candidate. In fact, I can't remember any Bishop speaking out against a candidate.

Since Protestants in the United States are always afraid of the force of the Catholic super-vote, a Pope has never endorced a candidate in the United States, I don't think.

That is the delema the US Catholic Bishops have right now. If they speak out against Kerry, they could not only loose some Catholics from the flock, but they could cause a religious war within the US... pretty heavy stuff.

In Christ,
Bill

-- Bill Nelson (bnelson45-nospam@hotmail.com), April 21, 2004.

Does he plan to this November?

I seriously doubt it.

-- Bill Nelson (bnelson45-nospam@hotmail.com), April 21, 2004.

since Pope John Paul II was (is?) a socialist

the pope is not, nor ever has been, a socialist. he supports SHARING goods with your fellow men, but not government controlled socialism, which is contrary to the moral order of a charitable society.

-- paul h (dontSendMeMail@notAnAddress.com), April 21, 2004.

The Pope is smart enough to know endorsing political candidates is something that could come back to bite him. The world is much too volatile. Take Bush for example. He looked great during the 2000 campaign, the Christian's Christian, against abortion, etc. etc. Say the Pope had endorsed him. Then after an unforseen and monumental event (911) "the Pope's candidate" decides (against the Pope's wishes) to pre-emptively attack a country that was not directly involved in the initial event. This decision by "the Pope's candidate" leads to the deaths of thousands of people, the majority of them innocent civilians. The Church has enough problems without having to deal with the embarrassment of that.

-- me (me@myemailaddress.com), April 21, 2004.

'And all that believed were together, and had all things common; and sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.' 2 Acts 44-45

They sound like a bunch of socialists.

-- Bible Thumper (Bible@Thumper.net), April 21, 2004.

ah, but bible thumper, if you knew about socialism, you would know that acts discusses CHARITY... not socialism.

They gave up their belongings willingly to help each other AND themselves because they were all starving. this is charity. It recognizes value in the self and in individuals. my brother is starving, so i feed him because it is RIGHT.

Now, if acts read that "they had their property TAKEN and then it was sold to feed everybody" this would denote socialism. In socialism the individual has NO value. The society is what matters. nobody should own rights to anything if all men dont have equal rights to equal goods. there is no charity, because everyone is FORCED to give and a forced decision CANNOT be a moral decision. THAT is socialism... THAT is the end of the virtue of charity.

-- paul h (dontSendMeMail@notAnAddress.com), April 21, 2004.