Tag Archive | Francis
September 6, 2017  

Following Cardinal Caffarra’s Death Today, Cardinal Electors Down To The Legit 120.

by Anura Guruge

Click to ENLARGE.

Click to access the original at the “National Catholic Reporter” (NCR).

Following Pope Francis’ very unusual cardinal creating consistory of June 28, 2017, where he created 5 new Cardinal Electors, there were 121 Cardinal Electors.

That was one more that the 120 Cardinal Electors currently permitted by Papal Decree from participating in a conclave.

I have always been against pope’s exceeding this 121 limit for a very good reason. It would create an unprecedented situation if a conclave had to be held unexpectedly (following a sudden death) and before the deceased pope got around to doing something about increasing the 120 limit.

What was real strange about this 121 figure was that there were NO upcoming 80th birthdays until February 3, 2018. That meant we would have gone for an unprecedented (again) 220 days (i.e., 7 months) with the cardinal elector level above 120 — UNLESS a cardinal, under 80-years of age, were to die. And I am always careful to specify that — i.e., barring deaths. I had wondered if there were any under-80 cardinals who were known to be on their last legs. There appeared not to be any.

And then, 70-days after the consistory, 79-year old Italian Cardinal, Carlo Caffarra dies. All the reports say SUDDENLY — but they also add that “after a long illness“. So, what is the story. Did Francis know that Caffarra would die within 90-days? The pope, in theory, does have some very good contacts high up.

Ironically, Caffarra was one of 4 of his MOST ARDENT critics. But another died in July 2017 and now Caffarra. So, 2 of the 4 have died! Coincidence? {Smile}

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by Anura Guruge

August 26, 2017  

Finally End-Gaming My Once Highly Popular “Popes and Papacy” Website/Blog.

by Anura Guruge

Click image to access the “Popes and Papacy” Website while it is still up.

Click to ENLARGE and marvel. These the stats for February 10, 2013 to March 30, 2013 — viz. Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation and Pope Francis’ election. 168,000 hits during those 6-weeks. 14,702 hits on the day of the resignation. Those were the glory days.

This during 2012 — 2013 was my PRIMARY blog — as opposed to this one. I put in a TON of work into it, working on it 4 – 6 hours a day. It had nearly 1,500 posts — and over 760,000 hits.

But it was really my “Next Pope (after Benedict XVI)” blog — to go with my “Next Pope 2011” book.

Once Francis was elected — and I did correctly identify him as a potential next pope — I kind of lost enthusiasm. My job was done. I wanted to move onto other greener pastures, e.g., orgasms, meditation and chronic pain. Plus, this blog was ‘taking off‘ — with around the same number of hits per day.

So, as I have done with so many other blogs I basically abandoned it. So for the last 4 years it has been ticking along because of the wealth of posts that were already in there.

But, keeping it going is becoming an issue — and cost is NOT one of them, though bloody GoDaddy charges me two arms and two legs for it. A lot has to do with security and I just am not willing to expend the efforts needed to button down all the hatches that I am supposed to.

So I am in the process of closing it down.

Hence the flood of ‘papal’ posts you have seen in the last week. {Smile}

I am transitioning over all the valuable, in many instances unique posts. I have also already deleted nearly 200 posts. Hopefully I will be done by October 2017.

So, now you know what all the new papal posts are about.

Enjoy.

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by Anura Guruge

August 25, 2017  

Cardinal Creating Consistory Habits Of The Last 16 Popes, Francis To Pius VII; Multiple Per Year Was The Norm.

by Anura Guruge

Click to ENLARGE.

I updated this Excel spreadsheet to now include Pope Francis.

The data should be fairly self-explanatory. I, as ever, highlighted the significant fields.

The ‘cardinals created per month in office‘ column (highlighted at top in purple) is fascinating. It is an easy but telling metric to grasp. Benedict XVI was pope for 94 months and during that time he created 90 popes. So ‘cardinals created per month in office‘ = 90/94 = 1 (when rounded up). Francis’ 1.2 will go down the longer he stays in office — but he will also continue to create more cardinals — we hope.

Interesting chart to study. Enjoy.

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by Anura Guruge

July 13, 2017  

Is Donald Trump Limping — And I Mean Physically.

by Anura Guruge

Donald Trump in Paris today, Thursday, July 13, 2017. 

At the welcoming ceremony with French President Emmanuel Macron.

Watch as he walks — especially the views from the back.

His left leg appears to be WEAK. He is limping.

Start around the 9 minute mark in the YouTube video below.

OK? See what YOU think.

As a papal watcher over the last decade or so I have got attuned to looking for and noticing limps — both popes of that period, Benedict XVI and Francis, having had limps.

You have to watch carefully, but I am sure he is having trouble with his left leg. Yes, he is packing on the pounds again. That never helps.

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by Anura Guruge

June 9, 2017  

Pope Francis’ June 28, 2017 Cardinal Creating Consistory: What Makes It Unusual.

by Anura Guruge

There are a number of things that make this consistory stand-out from the last 17 spanning 38 years.

So let’s look at what makes this consistory somewhat unusual, and as such, special.

  1. It is the SMALLEST consistory, in terms of cardinals being created, since Paul VI’s last one in 1977 when only four cardinals were created — but Paul VI, who instituted both the 120 elector limit and the 80-year ‘cut-off’, never exceeded the 120 limit or created any cardinals who were over 80. Benedict XVI, in his last cardinal creating consistory in November 2012, three-months ahead of his resignation, created 6 cardinals — that being the maximum he could create if he were not to exceed the 120-limit.
    …
  2. The first consistory since March 2006 NOT to be held on a Saturday — the last 7 consistories, four of Benedict XVI’s and three of Francis’ all being Saturday consistories with the celebratory Mass being held on Sunday.
    ….
  3. The first consistory, since John Paul II’s 8th consistory on February 21, 2001 to be held on a Wednesday.
    ….
  4. The first consistory since 1991 to be held on June 28. There is a significance to June 28th. The ‘Feast of Saints Peter and Paul‘, Rome’s two founding Apostles, falls, each year, on June 29. So, by having the consistory on June 28, the Vatican can have the celebratory Mass on this special Feast day. This, as such, is thus a ‘Feast of Saints Peter and Paul‘ consistory. John Paul II was found of such consistories. His 1988 cardinal creating consistory, the one before the 1991 one, was also a June 28 affair. His first ever was on June 30, the day after the feast. Paul VI held two consistories very close to this feast.
    ….
  5. Will create the first ever cardinals from first cardinals from El Salvador, Laos, Mali, and Sweden — as well as the from all of Scandinavia! That is pretty impressive.
    ….
  6. Bishop José Gregorio Rosa Chávez, auxiliary bishop of San Salvador, El Salvador will become the FIRST AUXILIARY BISHOP to be created a cardinal!His superior the Titular Bishop of San Salvador, El Salvador is NOT a cardinal.
    ….
  7. First of Francis’ consistories not to create a curial cardinal. (This was also true of Benedict XVI’s last consistory).
    ….
  8. First of Francis’ consistories not to create an over-80, non-elector cardinal. (This was also true of Benedict XVI’s last consistory). This is incongruous. There are no limits as to the non-electors and he could have created as many as he wanted.
    ….
  9. Barring deaths, there will be 121 cardinal electors following this consistory — and that number will not drop to the CONCLAVE-VALID 120 till February 2018. This would indicate, unless the Pope is aware of a very ill under-80 cardinal, that the Pope does not foresee a conclave ahead of February 2018.After Francis’ 1st cardinal creating consistory there were 122 electors; 125 after the 2nd and 121 after the 3rd. So he has always gone over the 120 limit.….

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by Anura Guruge

May 31, 2017  

Ahead Of Pope Francis’ June 28, 2017 Cardinal Creating Consistory — A List Of All 61 Prior Consistories Since 1900.

by Anura Guruge

Click to ENLARGE.

I had let this very informative Cardinal Creating Consistory Excel spreadsheet lapse after Pope Benedict XVI’s last in November 2012. That it was out-of-date always bothered me. So, I rectified that over the last few days. I also rationalized and simplified it. There is more work required BUT this is good start for this version.

I wanted to share it with you. Shows some interesting trends.

I plan to do more posts specific to the upcoming June 28, 2017 consistory over the next few days. So, stay tuned.

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by Anura Guruge

May 9, 2017  

Pope Francis ‘Dancing’ To Jewish Hasidic Song At The Vatican On May 8, 2017 — VIDEO.

by Anura Guruge

OK. More ‘swaying’ than ‘dancing’.

Click here to access article in
‘The Jerusalem Post‘
that explains it all.

Let’s be fair. He is now 80-years old and is known to have bad feet — that requires that he wears heavy, ‘orthopedic’-type shoes. He also suffers from sciatica and we won’t mention his weight issues since becoming pope.

In his youth, he was, however, quite the rake. He was a BOUNCER at a nightclub, was an avid soccer player and had a girlfriend.

This is still cute. Enjoy.

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by Anura Guruge

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