Even though Pope Benedict achieved a lot during his papacy, I believe that Pope Francis could achieve things that would revolutionize the Church forever. Pope Francis could be the next biggest pope ever since John Paul ll. His concern to the poor, his love for human life, and his goal of spreading the faith could very effectively mark the 21st century as the "Renaissance" of Christianity. The pope himself has a lot of popularity with the world; even non-Christians approve of the pope. I believe that Pope Benedict did a great job at reaffirming the teachings of the faith. The Church during his papacy had a relatively decent reputation, and I believe that he upheld his purpose of being the pope.
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In part, I blame it on Benedict's German upbringing. When he was young, their culture dictated that they remain serious and in control of their emotions at all times. You'll rarely see a German smile in pictures from those days, both because of the seriousness of the economic and political situation and simply because the culture was that you didn't go around smiling foolishly. I've seen this in pictures from my grandfather's childhood; only the little kids smiled in photographs. Past a certain point, everyone looks downright dour.
To this day, most of the time when my grandfather smiles out of politeness, it looks fake. I call it a German smile. It's more like a baring of teeth than what we think of as a smile because not all of the facial muscles are activated. (When he's genuinely happy about something, he has an American smile.) I've seen the very same German smile on Benedict in the pictures of him in front of crowds. He's trying to be polite, but he can't fake happiness.
And people pick up on this. Compare a picture of Benedict smiling to Francis smiling, and you'll see it's Francis who looks delighted. For all we know they're having much the same internal experience, but Francis comes of as warm and personable.
There
is no comparison really since they are two very different individuals, two very
different popes with two very distinct ways of handling things and how they go
about the church’s affairs. One is a very conservative pope while the other a
contemporary one. This is not very important just so long as the current Pope
can handle critical issues properly and find solutions to the problems of the
church.
There
is no comparison really since they are two very different individuals, two very
different popes with two very distinct ways of handling things and how they go
about the church’s affairs. One is a very conservative pope while the other a
contemporary one. This is not very important just so long as the current Pope
can handle critical issues properly and find solutions to the problems of the
church.
This pope is definitely idolized more than any other which is very telling! Keep your eyes open and if you're not saved, get saved.