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The First Asian Pope?
With the announcement today of Pope Benedict XVI creating a consistory to make new Cardinals – Archbishop Tagle of Manila, Philippines included – it really begs the question… will we have an Asian Pope?
Well, with every new Papal election (hopefully not for a long time. I love Pope Benedict XVI!), we hope for a Pope from the Philippines. Or from Asia. And with Tagle, who is smart, friendly, engaging, and loved by many, it brings our hopes up even more. The Cardinal-elect Tagle will be joining Cardinal-Emeritus Gaudencio Rosales and Cardinal-Emeritus Ricardo Vidal. We have never had more than three Cardinals at the same time.
From Wikipedia:
| From | To | Number of living Cardinals |
|---|---|---|
| March 28, 1960 (Rufino Santos elevated to Cardinal) |
April 28, 1969 (Julio Rosales elevated to Cardinal) |
1 Cardinal (Cardinal Santos) |
| April 28, 1969 (Julio Rosales elevated to Cardinal) |
September 3, 1973 (Death of Cardinal Santos) |
2 Cardinals (Cardinal Santos & Cardinal J. Rosales) |
| September 3, 1973 (Death of Cardinal Santos) |
May 24, 1976 (Jaime Sin elevated to Cardinal) |
1 Cardinal (Cardinal J. Rosales) |
| May 24, 1976 (Jaime Sin elevated to Cardinal) |
June 2, 1983 (Death of Cardinal J. Rosales) |
2 Cardinals (Cardinal J. Rosales & Cardinal Sin |
| June 2, 1983 (Death of Cardinal J. Rosales) |
May 25, 1985 (Ricardo Vidal elevated to Cardinal) |
1 Cardinal (Cardinal Sin) |
| May 25, 1985 (Ricardo Vidal elevated to Cardinal) |
June 28, 1991 (Jose Sanchez elevated to Cardinal) |
2 Cardinals (Cardinal Sin & Cardinal Vidal) |
| June 28, 1991 (Jose Sanchez elevated to Cardinal) |
June 21, 2005 (Death of Cardinal Sin) |
3 Cardinals (Cardinals Sin, Vidal & Sanchez) |
| June 21, 2005 (Death of Cardinal Sin) |
March 24, 2006 (Gaudencio Rosales elevated to Cardinal) |
2 Cardinals (Cardinal Vidal & Cardinal Sanchez) |
| March 24, 2006 (Gaudencio Rosales elevated to Cardinal) |
March 9, 2012 (Death of Cardinal Sanchez) |
3 Cardinals (Cardinals Vidal, Sanchez & G. Rosales) |
| March 9, 2012 (Death of Cardinal Sanchez) |
Present | 2 Cardinals (Cardinals Vidal & G. Rosales) |
I am sure that ArchBishop Soc Villegas and ArchBishop Jose Palma are in the pipeline. We just need to see when that will be. Maybe the Vatican will allow more than 3 Cardinals from the Philippines (especially since 2 are already retired).
But now, will we have the first Asian Pope?
Well, no. St. Peter was the first Pope. And he was from Galilee (in Israel), a part of Asia. So he was the first Asian Pope.
The 11th Pope, Pope Anicetus I (a Saint), was from Syria. He confirmed that Easter be celebrated on a Sunday.
The 73rd Pope, Pope Theodore I, was from Jerusalem. He added the word Sovereign to the word Pope.
The 82nd Pope, Pope John V, was from Antioch (Syria). And so was the 84th Pope, Pope Sergius I (a Saint), who introduced the Agnus Dei in Liturgy.
Pope Sissinus (#87), Pope Constantine (#88) [he started the kissing of the holy foot of the bronze statue of St. Peter waaaay back in the 700s. Imagine how many people have kissed that foot since then.... including me!] and St. Pope Gregory III (#90) [he brought about "Peter's Pence"] were all from Syria as well.
So there have been 8 Asian Popes. But none since the year 741. And none from outside the Asian Middle East. So if we consider Asia as not including the Middle East, then yes, we have not had an Asian Pope yet.
And that just makes it all the more exciting.
But, let’s not get distracted (we just had to ask, of course). There’s a lot to be done in this era of New Evangelization. And who better to be our Cardinal than Chito Tagle who understands how the Philippine Church can best be one with the whole Church in ushering and leading this New Evangelization 
God bless you, Your Eminence!
The Pope said I can use condoms?
Ok I admit it. I read what the explanations were of what the media were saying about the Pope and condoms (of course the media were slanted and were pushing what THEY wanted us to understand; and the politicians were celebrating their MISGUIDED notion of Papal affirmation), and I could grasp some of it, but not all of it. And I’m not ashamed to admit it.
But it is always SO DIFFERENT when you research something, and read something – than when it is explained to you. And Michael Voris explains it REALLY WELL (he will be in Manila in February, by the way).
So we can read this:
“In reality, the Church’s broad opposition to artificial birth control has not changed, and there’s no indication that it will give way under Benedict XVI, rightly seen as a champion of Catholic orthodoxy.
Instead, Benedict XVI has said in a book-length interview with a German journalist that while condoms are not the solution to the HIV/Aids crisis, there may nevertheless be individual cases where use of a condom can represent the first stirrings of a sense of moral responsibility, if the intent is to save someone’s life.
Even then the use a condom is still not the Pope’s moral ideal (especially, of course, where the sex takes place outside marriage), but Benedict has said that it can be a step in the right direction – the dawning of awareness that “one cannot do whatever one wants.”"
Or we can watch this. And now I understand.
Does the Pope really wear Prada shoes?
Ok I have to admit, I always thought the Pope wore red Prada shoes.
I thought it would be cool! I mean, a fashionable Pope. All of us have the desire to serve God, and look good while doing it. I mean what’s Prada shoes when walking to meetings. Or a LV bag to put your Bible in. Or an iPad to write your talk notes.
But then again, where’s the simplicity in that? Is it right for the Pope (ok, for all of us) to bend over backwards to buy expensive things we don’t need – much less things we can’t really afford? So, if you believe the hype of the red Prada Papal shoes, you’d actually get pretty annoyed.
Well, I have news. He doesn’t have red Prada shoes (and neither do I). I researched it from here.
“According to Vatican sources the Pope’s shoes are made by a cobbler from Novara called Adriano Stefanelli, who makes them from calf or kid for the winter and nappa leather for the summer. Papal shoe repairs are carried out by Antonio Arellano, a Peruvian shoemaker in the Borgo, the medieval quarter next to St Peter’s. The article, on “Ratzinger’s Liturgical Vestments”, was written by Juan Manuel de Prada, the noted Spanish writer and author of The Tempest, who is not related to the fashion company. De Prada said that the image of the German-born Pope as concerned with “frivolity” was at odds with the truth, which was that he was a “simple and sober” man. Suggestions to the contrary were “stupid and banal”.”
Phew. So it was written by de Prada. Maybe that was the confusion there? Hahaha. So I guess I can’t get the LV bag? And the iPad should stay with Des.
