Pope Benedict dismisses doomsday theory that world will end on December 21st
Mayan calendar theory is nonsense says Pontiff
Published Monday, November 19, 2012, 7:50 AM
Updated Monday, November 19, 2012, 9:37 AM
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Pope Benedict XVI addresses the crowd at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican
Photo by Google Images
The Pope has reassured Catholics that the end of the world is not night – and has told them to ignore claims that December 21st will be doomsday.
Pope Benedict XVI used his weekly address from the window of his Vatican apartments to call on Christians not to heed doomsday warnings.
He spoke out on the idea that the ancient Mayan calendar predicts that doomsday is next month, on December 21, 2012.
He referred to extracts from the Bible that speak of ‘the sun and moon going out, the stars falling from the sky’.
The Pope said: “Jesus does not describe the end of the world, and when he uses apocalyptic images, he is not acting the prophet.
“On the contrary, he wants to stop his disciples of every epoch from being curious over dates, forecasts, and wants to give them the key to ... the right road to walk today and tomorrow to enter into the eternal life,”
The Sydney Morning Herald reports that as many as 90,000 people are expected to attend a massive event in Guatemala City on December 21 just in case the world actually does end.
Tour groups are openly promoting doomsday-themed getaways.
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IrelandNorth | Nov 21, 2012, 08:31 AM EST
PS Well at least Northern Ireland - anyway!
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IrelandNorth | Nov 21, 2012, 08:30 AM EST
What about those early Irish Christian saints who predicted roughly the same doomsday scenario, with most of Ireland as a latter day Atlantis slipping below the waves of the Atlantic. Huh?
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Redneck56 | Nov 20, 2012, 07:25 PM EST
It is written, "Not even the angels in Heaven know the time, but the Father in Heaven."
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anglo-norman | Nov 20, 2012, 04:32 PM EST
I wonder doe Mr O'Dowd & co rrealise that not all Irish people are roman catholic. Why not publish some stuff about the CoI & othere denominations that Irish people belong to.
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eiriamach | Nov 20, 2012, 10:57 AM EST
"What on earth is wrong with that?" Eamonn asks, about the pope reassuring us that the world is not about to end. While I find nothing "wrong" with it, I do think the pope missed an opportunity at a pivotal moment to remind Christians about eschatological themes in Jesus' ministry, for example, his prophecy that human history was about to undergo profound changes with the kingdom of God "breaking in" upon it. Indeed, in its early centuries, Christianity wrought sea-changes in culture and history, bringing down the pagan, power-heavy, oppressive Roman Empire, some say, from deep within that empire itself. Today, many Christians, but the pope is not among them, feel the need for profound change again, and some speak of those changes as already at work eschatologically-- waking us up to the essentials of Christ's teaching and prompting us to cast aside the inessentials of "religion," such as misguided human efforts to control the politics of sexual orientation and gender roles, contraception, social institutions such as marriage,....
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BrianO | Nov 20, 2012, 09:45 AM EST
It ended for the Mayans a long time ago.
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EamonnDublin | Nov 20, 2012, 07:37 AM EST
"EiriAmach", Your rebellious nature, as depicted in your choice of name, is admirable. I am really pleased that you find the phraseology in my last post to be saleable as a comedy routine. I will take your advice and add "crayzeee" and "maniacal" near the end. Do you think I should also put "mad feckers", or might that be stretching it a bit? KoolDoodEamonn - (He's so kool, he makes everybody else feel steamed up).
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kickstar | Nov 20, 2012, 02:40 AM EST
And sure wouldn't he know, and him talking to God every day and that, and being infallible and that
I wonder what Santa is bringing him this year.
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eiriamach | Nov 19, 2012, 07:12 PM EST
EamonnDublin, you could package that comment and sell it as a comedy routine. You start off complaining about posters who call the pope "crazy," and then you wind it up by calling the same posters "barking mad, salivating, rancidly rabid, hysterical lefty liberal loonies." Really, a simple "crazy" would do the job, or "maniacal" if you wish to go one better. Are you running for Carnac the Magnificent's Grand Scorn Master award?
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Eschetic | Nov 19, 2012, 12:26 PM EST
OK, this really is a "silly season" story. It's sad that the pontiff even feel called upon to comment on this semi-nonsense. I do say "semi-nonsense" since the Myan Calendar does end this cycle of time near the end of this year - certain cheap authors have been selling badly written books over-interpreting that to mean the end of the world. It is dark fun, perhaps, to put that together with the convergence of some other "cycles" any knowledgeable high school student can tell you about, but rather than worry about it, I'm pulling out the DVD of ANGELS & DEMONS (or maybe 2012). The thrills are just as good and the construction stronger.
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EamonnDublin | Nov 19, 2012, 12:14 PM EST
Surely, if posters wish to call anybody "crazy", etc., it should be the people who actually think that the world WILL end on 21st December. All Pope Benedict has done is to make a comment in order to try to reassure those people who might be inclined to worry because of irresponsible forecasts of the end of the world. What on earth is wrong with that? Of course, it's just the usual barking mad, salivating, rancidly rabid, hysterical lefty liberal loonies who choose to take issue. Éamonn, Dublin.
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cillowen | Nov 19, 2012, 10:25 AM EST
tackler of meaningful craziness.
here's the sniveling papa doing the usual gandy dance for humanity.
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Portia777 | Nov 19, 2012, 10:11 AM EST
who in their right mind believes what this man in a flock has to say? Its all brainwashing.
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Murph46 | Nov 19, 2012, 10:06 AM EST
It can't end then ,we have some "Special Collections"coming up!
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