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Article: Change followed Pius XII, so it could happen again.(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- National Catholic Reporter
- Article date:
- April 2, 1999
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1999 National Catholic Reporter. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Catholics born after 1970, who are now 29 or younger, have really known only one pope in their lifetimes, John Paul II (elected in 1978). This generation's idea of now a pope is supposed to look and act is determined almost entirely by its knowledge and experience of the current pope.
The same was true of my own generation. Those of us born between 1930 and 1950, who are now between 49 and 69, knew only one pope until his death in October 1958: Plus XII (elected in 1939). Our idea of how a pope was supposed to look and act was also determined almost entirely by our knowledge and experience of Pius XII.
We assumed that popes were supposed to be aloof, ...