Tick Tock

So much has happened in the short span of two weeks to make changes in how we perceive things, at least they have for me. Terri Schiavo's case caused me to look at the world and my situation a little bit more differently. It made me pause and consider my place and what I needed to do to keep it. Now, Pope John Paul II has passed.

There have been long, sometimes rambling biographies of Pope John Paul II and how he has affected the lives of many Catholics. Now he has gone, what is going to happen to the Catholic world?

Some have said they would like a more "progressive" Pope who would look upon ordaining women as priests and the election and favorable on-looking of same-sex marriages, as well as abortion, which this Pope stood strongly against. He saw a difference between political freedom and religion, belief and faith.

Most people shown on the news have been highly upset for losing their Bishop of Rome. Others are hopeful for the progressive Pope to be elected.

What would actually happen if a progressive Pope were elected? Would Catholicism even be Catholicism with rules and etiquette and order any more? Or would it be more like the Episcopalians, Presbyterians, and all the other Protestant religions? Isn't their order something that keeps them different?

I'm curious to see what is going to happen with the Cardinals and who they choose as the next Pope. I hope they choose carefully, and I'm not even Catholic!