Pope Restores 2/3's Requirement for Papal Election

Vatican, Jun. 26, 2007 (CWNews.com) -

Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) has restored the rule requiring a two-thirds majority among the voting cardinals to elect a new Roman Pontiff.

The Vatican today made public a motu proprio in which Pope Benedict amends the rules that had been established by Pope John Paul II (bio - news) in 1996. With those rules Pope John Paul had allowed for the election of a Pope by a simple majority if a conclave was unable to produce a two-thirds majority after 33 ballots.

With a brief document, written in Latin and signed on June 11, Pope Benedict revived the older standard that had called for a two-thirds majority in every case. In the motu proprio the Pope reported that a number of cardinals had called for the amendment, reasoning that the requirement for a two-thirds majority could discourage cardinals from procedural maneuvers that might stall a conclave and force a simple-majority ballot.

The new norms set forth by Pope Benedict allow for a different means of preventing a deadlock. If the conclave has not produced a decision after 21 ballots, the top two vote-getters will be selected for a run-off ballot. However the requirement for two-thirds support still holds.
Father Federico Lombardi, the director of the Vatican press office, observed that the motu proprio was an indication that Pope Benedict "wants to ensure that whoever is elected pope enjoys the greatest possible consensus."

Because You Wanted More.....

Actually, I should have entitled this entry: Nerd II. But hey, the song is pretty sweet!

The Vatican's 10 Commandments for Motorists

The Vatican took a break from strictly theological matters on Tuesday to issue its own rules of the road, a compendium of do's and don'ts on the moral aspects of driving and motoring. A 36-page document called "Guidelines for the Pastoral Care of the Road" contains 10 commandments covering everything from road rage, respecting pedestrians, keeping a car in good shape and avoiding rude gestures while behind the wheel. "Cars tend to bring out the 'primitive' side of human beings, thereby producing rather unpleasant results," the document said. It appealed to what it called the "noble tendencies" of the human spirit, urging responsibility and self-control to prevent the "psychological regression" often associated with driving. It urged readers not to behave in an "unsatisfactory and even barely human manner" when driving and to avoid what it called "unbalanced behavior ... impoliteness, rude gestures, cursing, ..." Vatican City, the world's smallest sovereign state, doesn't have many of the problems listed in the document. It has about 1,000 cars, the speed limit is 19 mph and one Vatican official said the last accident inside Vatican City's walls was about 1.5 years ago, resulting in only minor damage. (Reuters)

For more info on the document go to: http://www.zenit.org/article-19915?l=english

Godzilla vs Contra

Hey, I know....I am a nerd. But this video contains two things I loved when growing up. So, if you can bring them together, how awesome is that?

I Need to Get Me One of Those!

Pope on Eucharistic Adoration

What? The Pope promotes Eucharistic Adoration, what is the world coming to? ;)

Says Silence Is Needed in Scattered World

VATICAN CITY, JUNE 10, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI recommends the practice of Eucharistic adoration, saying that the capacity for interior silence and recollection is ever more important in life that is often "noisy and scattered."The Pope said this today after praying the Angelus with crowds gathered in St. Peter's Square.

His address centered on the Eucharist, as many nations celebrate the feast of Corpus Christi today."Even after the celebration of the divine mysteries, the Lord Jesus remains living in the tabernacle; because of this he is praised, especially by Eucharistic adoration," the Holy Father said."

There is an intrinsic connection between celebration and adoration. The holy Mass, in fact, is in itself the Church's greatest act of adoration," he added. "Adoration outside holy Mass prolongs and intensifies what happened in the liturgical celebration and renders a true and profound reception of Christ possible."I would like to take the opportunity that today's solemnity offers me to strongly recommend to pastors and all the faithful the practice of Eucharistic adoration."

Benedict XVI noted that youth are showing great interest in adoration. "I invite priests to encourage youth groups in this, but also to accompany them to ensure that the forms of adoration are appropriate and dignified, with sufficient times for silence and listening to the word of God," the Pope said.

He continued: "In life today, which is often noisy and scattered, it is more important than ever to recover the capacity for interior silence and recollection: Eucharistic adoration permits one to do this not only within one's 'I' but rather in the company of that 'You' full of love who is Jesus Christ, 'the God who is near us.'"

May the Virgin Mary, Eucharistic Woman, lead us into the secret of true adoration. Her heart, humble and silent, was always recollected around the mystery of Jesus, in whom she worshipped the presence of God and his redemptive love."

Pope-Bush Meeting

by Mark Silva
VATICAN CITY – Greeted by the archbishop of the Pontifical Household and a line of Technicolor-suited Swiss Guard on the cobblestone – and on this cloudless and warm, sun-splashed day -- San Damaso courtyard of the Vatican, President Bush arrived for an audience with Pope Benedict XVI.

Inside today, the pope gave the visiting president a 17th Century lithograph of St. Peter's Square and a gold medallion, and the president gave the pope a walking stick that a former homeless artist in Dallas had inscribed with the Ten Commandments. The pope also was heard to inquire about the president's recent meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, in which they had discussed a defensive missile shield for Europe.

"Sometimes I'm not poetic enough to describe what it's like to be in the presence of the Holy Father,'' Bush, who had visited Pope John Paul II during the president's re-election campaign in 2004, said during an interview with European press before departing for this weeklong tour of Europe.

"It is a moving experience. And I have not been in the presence of this particular Holy Father. Obviously, three visits with the last great man, and I'm looking forward to this,'' Bush said of Benedict XVI. "I'm looking forward to hearing him. He's a good thinker and a smart man. I'll be in a listening mode.''
Bush has been in a talking mode for much of an eight-day tour that started in Prague, continued in Germany for the three-day summit of the Group of Eight nations and carried him briefly through Poland – site of the missile battery that Bush proposes for a new European defense network -- before arriving in Rome.

(c/o http://weblogs.chicagotribune.com/)