Sorry for this off topic post, but I could not help sharing this after
reading this portion of the thread:

>Interesting, especially in comparison to the myth -
>quite common in the West - that the Buddha was fat. A
>Pentecostalist preacher in Sweden (though he is of
>Norwegian origin - sorry, Kåre!) recently called him,
>in a sermon, "a brown burnt tin can, and an overweight
>one" (_en brunbränd plåtburk, och en överviktig
>sådan_).

In this week's issue of newsweek, there's an excellent article on the new
pope. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7615894/site/newsweek/
If you only have a few minutes check out the section of the article "where
he stands".

Here are a few excerpts:

On other religions:
"objectively speaking, they are in a gravely deficient situation in
comparison with those who in the Church, have the fullness of the means of
salvation."

On sexual abuse scandals in catholic church:
"I am personally convinced that the constant presence in the press of sins
of Catholic priests... is a planned campaign, as the percentage of these
offences among priests is not higher than in other categories."

On women as priests:
"[Such] 'priestly ordination' constitutes... a grave offense to the divine
constitution of the church... [and] is an affront to the dignity of women,
whose specific role in the Church and society is distinctive and
irreplaceable."

On homosexuality:
"Although the particular inclination of the homosexual person is not a sin,
it is a more or less strong tendency ordered toward an intrinsic moral evil;
and thus the inclination itself must be seen as an objective disorder... As
in every conversion from evil, the abandonment of homosexual activity will
require a profound collaboration of the individual with God's liberating
grace."

============================
My comments:
The Pope is described as an intellectual professor. Does "objective" mean
what I think it means? He uses that word frequently.

Keep in mind the Pope is leader of hundreds of millions of Catholics. When I
read what he says, I can not begin to describe the sickening feeling that
overwhelms my aggregates. Evil in itself is filthy and disgusting, but evil
delivered in a pseudo-intellectual disingenous double speak meant to swindle
impressionable followers is a sin of the highest order. The salvation and
heavenly realm that awaits this Pope will be nothing like he imagines.