Conclave Update

Recently, a Britain cardinal removed himself from being included in the election of the Pope's successor. First of all, I had no idea that it was possible for a cardinal to do this, it seems strange. The reason Cardinal Keith O'Brien excused himself is because of rumors that he acts inappropriately with other priests, and O'Brien wanted the focus of the conclave to be on the right next Pope, not the scandals. Pope Benedict XVI approved this because of O'Brien's old age (75) not because of recent events. Only two cardinals, so far, will be physically absent from the conclave of now 115 cardinals.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/25/pope-changes-conclave_n_2758053.html?utm_hp_ref=christianity

Pope Benedict XVI

Earlier this month, Pope Benedict XVI announced that he had religiously considered his retirement and that it was the best decision given his age and poor health. Personally, I thought the majority of Roman Catholics would be surprised or somewhat hurt when they received the news, even though Pope Benedict XVI stated that he would still be involved in the Church and continue living religiously. After all, a Pope has not resigned in 600 years. However, it seems that the reaction is quite the opposite. The number of people that attended the Pope's public blessing was around the average, the only difference was that they cheered and thanked the Pope for his service of eight years.
While the timing of his announcement was unexpected, the group of 116 cardinals are planning to meet before Easter this year to elect a new Pope.
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/final.angelus.blessing.from.pope.benedict.xvi/31714.htm

Greek Orthodox Tradition

So, during the site visit to St. Peter and Paul Greek Orthodox Church, I noticed that Father George was wearing a wedding ring, he mentioned in his presentation that in the religion does allow priests to be married. That, however, was not what caught my attention. It was that he was wearing the wedding ring on his ring finger of his right hand. I thought maybe he had just put it accidentally on the wrong hand this morning or something.
It turns out that he meant to put his wedding ring on his right hand. The tradition goes way back to a time when the left hand was thought of as evil. As the article points out, "the Latin word for left is 'sinister.'" This would conclude that putting a symbol of purity and religion, such as a wedding ring, on the left hand would not coincide with the meaning. The main religion that follows this tradition is Orthodox Christians and the regions that also wear the ring on the right hand are Germany, Greece, Russia, Spain, India, Columbia, Venezuela and Poland.
But why don't all religions have a married couple wear rings on the right hand? The tradition of wearing a wedding ring on the left hand started in the classical times when it was believed that a vein in the fourth finger of the left hand went straight to the heart. The vein was coined the vein of love, or vena amoris. It is mainly the Western regions (such as UK, United States, Ireland, Mexico, Brazil, Iran, Chile, Italy, France, Sweden, and Slovenia) and religions that wear the ring on the left hand.
http://greekweddingsandtraditions.com/2008/01/27/your-wedding-ringleft-or-right-hand/

As most know by now, Pope Benedict XVI announced his plan to resign at the end of February, the reason, he explains, is his deteriorating health. Because a Pope has not resigned in 600 years, the announcement obviously provoked many questions from Catholics all around the world. The election for the next Pope is thought occur before Easter (March 31st), since Easter is such a holy occasion. In this article, some of the possible candidates are mentioned and the possible future of the Roman Catholic Church.
I think it is interesting that an American cardinal is in the mix of possible candidates. It seems very unlikely that all the other cardinals would elect a person from the most powerful military country, but maybe because the United States is experiencing a noticeable decrease of Catholics, an American Pope would refuel the faith in America.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/12/world/europe/with-popes-resignation-focus-shifts-to-a-successor.html?pagewanted=2&_r=0

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/19/roman-catholic-mass-changes_n_931908.html So, about a year ago, a significant change happened in my church. Most of the words said in every mass were similar, but noticeably different. My family and I were definitely caught off guard to say the least, we were going to church regularly, and the words didn't seem like they were a one-mass thing. I always assumed it was just a revision implemented by just my church. However, after some research, I was wrong. The words of the mass were changed in the Vatican and, shortly afterward, every Catholic Church. It turns out the revision was made in order to more closely resemble the original Latin mass, similar to the mission of the Vatican II. The details are explained in the link above.