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Let me check my schedule - but if the Pope wants to see me he'll have to come to Greensboro and if he wants to talk with me he'll have to speak English.

That would be a cool scenario to consider. What would you tell the Pope if he came to you and asked for advice on running the Catholic church? I think I might start with a few choice comments on the potential uses of over a dozen centuries' worth accumulated riches. Time permitting, I might also touch on the advisability of protecting pervert priests. But you know I think a lot of that might fall on deaf ears for some reason. :-[

personally i would not go to see the pope if he were to drive thru downtown randleman. he does not reflect or adhere to what i believe scripture teaches on many subjects, he does not represent me in my faith walk. he, like many other public figures speaks eloquent words of love, peace and humanity but a spiritual leader to me he is not.
i saw some interesting stats on catholics the other day and many don't believe they need to attend mass to be in good standing with the rcc, perhaps like most catholics i have come in contact with, they have no ideas of what 'their' church requires of them (i.e have taken no incentive to read, research or study the cathechism ). here is an excerpt i came across:.....................................
"The requirement to attend Mass on Sunday and other holy days of obligation, rooted in the Third Commandment and codified in Church law (cf. Code of Canon Law, canons 1246-48) is a serious obligation for all Catholics. A Catholic who (a) is able to attend Sunday Mass (i.e., who is not impeded by illness, lack of transportation, etc.), (b) knows the seriousness of this requirement, and (c) nonetheless freely chooses to miss Mass, thereby commits a mortal sin (cf. Catechism, no. 2181)."

definition of mortal sin : "According to the beliefs of Roman Catholicism, a mortal sin is a sin that, unless confessed and absolved (or at least sacramental confession is willed if not available), condemns a person's soul to Hell after death."

there is a whole list of ways a person can make their way into hell per the rcc.
of course catholics will tell you that because they were born into a catholic family they are heaven bound and until recent years they believed ONLY catholics could go to heaven, but amid much backlash the rcc softened their stance and said some others might make it to heaven also, how gracious of the rcc.
so no i won't be beating a path to see the pope, now or ever ! i prefer the liberating freedom that accepting Christ has provided me and would not want to be judged by the rcc on whether i've received salvation or not (according to their gospel).

No, I will not be attending. I expressed my sentiments on the other Pope subject line.

Yes I am going to 5th avenue to see the new Pope on Sunday, it'll be awesome to get a picture of the pope!!! And it is free! COol to see the pope, when woudl I get a chance to see him again?

"COol to see the pope, when woudl I get a chance to see him again?"..................................

maybe in heaven if you both are on the roll up yonder.

i could have sent you an internet link with some great pics of the pope and saved you some money on travel, rooms and food.

I've been somewhat surprized to see such media adulation of the Pope during his visit to the States; especially on the Fox News Channel. Almost all the Fox and Friends crew seem to be Catholic, and have just been going on and on about how wonderful the whole affair is; seeming to trip all over themselves in out-doing one another. It was very unsettling to watch.

Protestants just do not have a towering central figure to parade before the world as their supreme authority on earth - no Vicar of Christ, or Pontifex Maximus. They have to settle for Jesus Christ as the only Head of the Church in earth and heaven. At times some of them fall prey to "Pope-envy" - poor fragmented little sects that we are: how can we ever hope to compete. I mean, Il Papa seems to get global media coverage if he burps; all Protestants get is criticism or dead air. Could there be a conspiratorial Catholic domination of the media? Who knows? But it sure smells fishy sometimes - especially on Fridays.

It never ceases to amaze me that Luther, Calvin et al. were able to successfully oppose the awesome papal megalith of their day. When Luther discovered the Gospel of grace through faith alone, he pulled the cork on the lamp and released the genie of truth about papal distortion and suppression of the Faith. Amazingly, we seem to have regained a taste for popery and ritualsim of late, and all the spiritual darkness and deadness that accompanies it. We don't have enough theolgoical wits about us today, it seems, to fill a thimble. Anthing or anyone who tries to upstage the King of kings, be he man or idea, detacts from Him and ursurps His glory.

And anyone who thinks Catholicism has changed since the Reformation pulled back the papal curtain over 400 years ago is sadly mistaken. The Roman hierarchy did make a few comsmetic changes during the counter-reformation, ridding themselves of the most egregious Medieval corruptions and errors; but even Vatican II was just a liberalized remake, designed to insure the survival of Papal/RCC power well into the future. They still plan to supplant and negate all Protestant "heresy," control and guide the West into their sphere of influence, and propagate their smoking Gospel-fuzzy ritualism around the world.

So, I will be glad to see Papa return to his special home cooking, so we can get back to spreading the Gospel of grace and Biblical truth. But Protestants first need to clean house big time themselves. If there's hope for a dumbed-down and liberalized Protestnatism, there's hope for a true reform of the RCC as well. We all need to abandon churchianity and religionism -and submit to God's infallible Word and get on with the work of the Gospel.

I sincerely apologize if my views offend some, but truth is more important than sensibilities. I have some good Catholic friends with whom I have joined hands in ProLife actions, and morality issues. Like I said earlier, I do consider the RCC essentially orthodox, but I just have some major issues with many of its accreted doctrines and practices, including papalism. This is doctrinally, and not personally based critique.