How bad is this?

[DrunkenGoon]

Would you bet on who the next pope will be? Intertops has it up... As someone said in the past there are cool props and there are disgusting props... I believe this time Intertops is on the wrong side of the fence...

May all your bets be winners

[chestrockwells]

What's so disgusting about it? From the list, it seems that a fair amount of research went into it. I especially liked the fact that it was listed in the "politics" section, since the selection process is about as political as it gets. I say this is great. It's not as if they were taking bets as to when someone was going to kick the bucket!

[DrunkenGoon]

I thought the pope had to die before the next one was elected... Did I miss something here?


Popes are elected by the College of Cardinals meeting in Conclave when the Apostolic See falls vacant.

When the Pope dies, the Cardinal Camerlengo (currently Eduardo Cardinal Martinez Somalo) must verify the
death, traditionally by calling the Pope three times by his name without response. He must then authorize a
death certificate and make the event public by notifying the Cardinal Vicar for the Diocese of Rome (currently
Camillo Cardinal Ruini). The Camerlengo then seals the Pope's private apartments. He would also arrange for the
"ring of the fisherman" and the papal seal to be broken. He then makes preparations for the Papal funeral rites,
the novemdieles, the nine days of mourning.

During the interregnum, it is the Camerlengo who is responsible for the government of the Church. He must
arrange the funeral and burial of the Pope. He directs the election of a new pope, assisted by three Cardinals,
elected by the College of Cardinals, with three new Cardinals elected every three days.

All heads of the dicasteries of the Roman Curia are suspended from exercising their authority during the
interregnum (and are expected to resign their posts immediately on the election of the new Pope). The only
exceptions to this are the Cardinal Camerlengo, the Cardinal Vicar of Rome, the Major Penitentiary (William
Cardinal Baum), the Cardinal Archpriest of St Peter's Basilica and the Vicar-General for Vatican City (both
offices are held by Virgilio Cardinal Noe). These continue in their posts during the interregnum.

After 15-20 days of "General Congregations", sermons at their Titular Churches and mourning for the Pope after
his funeral, the Cardinal Electors enter the Conclave to choose which of them will emerge as Holy Roman
Pontiff.

The Cardinals must take an oath when they first enter the Conclave that they will follow the rules set down by
the Pope and that they will maintain absolute secrecy about the voting and deliberations. The penalty for
disclosing anything about the conclave that must be kept secret is automatic excommunication.

The Cardinals all take seats around the wall of the Sistine Chapel and take a ballot paper on which is written
"Eligo in suumum pontificem" -- "I elect as supreme Pontiff...". They then write a name on it, fold it, and then
proceed one by one to approach the altar, where a chalice stands with a paten on it. They hold up their ballot
high to show that they have voted, then place it on the paten, and then slides it into the chalice. The votes are
then counted by the Cardinal Camerlengo and his three assistants. Each assistant reads the name, reads the
name aloud, writes it down on a tally sheet and then passes it to the next assistant. The third assistance runs a
needle and thread through the centre of each ballot to join them all together. The ballots are then burned, as well
as all notes made. If a new Pope has been elected, the papers are burned with to give white smoke. Otherwise,
they give off black smoke, so that the waiting crowds, and the world, know whether their new Holy Father will
soon emerge from the Sistine Chapel.

To be elected Pope, one Cardinal must receive more than two-thirds of the votes. Except that if 30 elections
have taken place without any one Cardinal being elected Pope, then the Cardinals may then elect by simple
majority. This is an important change and may well be the most important change made. In the past, it has often
been the case that a particular candidate has had solid majority support but cannot garner the required
two-thirds majority, eg, because he is too conservative to satisfy the more moderate Cardinals. Therefore a
compromise candidate is chosen, either an old Pope who will die soon and not do much until the next conclave
(which is what was intended with John XXIII!) or someone not so hard-line wins support. The difference now will
be that if, in the early ballots, one candidate has strong majority support, there is less incentive for that majority
to compromise with the cardinals who are against their candidate and they simply need to sit out 30 ballots to
elect their man. This may well see much more "hard-line" Popes being elected, and given the conservative trend
of most appointments to the College by Pope John Paul II, it is almost certainly going to be a man cut from the
same cloth.

The cardinals vote on the afternoon of the first day, then twice each morning and once each afternoon. If they
have not elected someone within the first nine votes, then they may devote up to a day to prayer and discussion
before resuming. They may do the same every seven unsuccessful votes after that.

The Cardinals are not permitted any contact with the outside world: no mobile phones, no newspapers or
television, no messages or letters or signals to observers. There will be regular sweeps of all relevant areas for
listening devices. The Cardinals will for the first time be visible, at least twice daily, to the observing world, when
they move the 350 metres from the Domus Sanctae Marthae to the Sistine Chapel and back again. No doubt,
Vatican "experts" will be hired to expound at length on what the countenance of certain key Cardinals indicates
as they are filmed moving to and from the Chapel!

Once a Cardinal has received the required number of votes, the Dean of the College of Cardinals asks him if he
accepts election and by what name he wishes to be called as Pope. On giving assent, the Cardinal immediately
becomes Pontifex Maximus, the Holy Roman Pontiff.

The Cardinals then pledge their obedience to His Holiness in turn. The Pope vests in his Pontifical clericals
(white soutane and skull cap) -- the Italian family business in Rome that makes all the Papal vestments has
several different sizes prepared in readiness for His Holiness, no matter what his shape or size!

The Dean of the College of Cardinals then steps onto the main balcony of the Vatican and declares to the World:
"Habemus Papam!" "We have a Pope!" His Holiness then appears on the Balcony and delivers his Apostolic
Blessing to the waiting World.

[hart attack]

i bet on (and cashed) the chinese plane incident. why is it disgusting?? if it has already happened it aint like the prop is making anything else happen to anyone. i also cashed last year on ricky martin not coming out as a queer by new year's eve. $ is $.

[Banyon]

The only thing I find offensive about this proposition is the length of time they may be holding your money. Thanks

[Cons]

hart attack, where did you bet on the China incident or on Ricky Martin?

I can understand the Intertops prop because there will be another Pope sometime in the future and it's definitely going to be a very important decision with a global impact. In fact I'm sure the Pope himself is looking ahead in time and making sure that he has an appropriate successor lined up.

Last year Irish bookie Luvbet offered bets on who will be the Pope on Jan 1, 2001. Now this is a bet I thought was upsetting because it basically meant you would be betting on him not dying before 2001.

[Jeff]

This reminds me Howard Sterns death pool........where everyone picks different celebrities at different odds, wagering who will kick 1st.......with the younger ones getting more points.......

Ok, this ones isn' as bad as that....

[Bender]

Has anyone seen a Reagan vs. the Pope head to head death match up. Curious as to what the line would be.

I would make the Deuce -125, take back on Reagan +105.

[DrunkenGoon]

What irked me was the closing date on this

Closing Date: Apr 29, 2001 19:00

Now, we know the pope doesn't resign, he is only replaced when he dies. Do they know something we don't as in "the pope will die before the 29th"? And if not, how long do they keep your money? What if the pope lives for another 10 yrs and maintains his position?

I still think it is a tasteless prop and it should be removed...

May all your bets be winners

[scott]

For what it's worth Goon I agree withn you. Everyone has a price and some are much lower than others.
Scotty

[scott]

Goon, By "everybody has a price" I don't mean the Pope either. I'm talking about the price of a persons character. What it would take to condone or participate or just pile on to crap like this. How much would it take to get me to steal, etc.
Scotty

[mls]

By all means ...

Lets let gamblers set moral standards for the community ...

Afterall, the difference in betting on when a man's long and happy life comes to a natural end is obviously immoral ... and betting in which round a man gets his brains beat out in a boxing match is obviously moral ...

First we'll ban certain bets as "immoral", then we can impose criminal penalties, and then tar and feather the offenders ...

Who says we can't legislate morality?!?

[reno]

I hope the new Pope is more responsive to the public than the present Pope. I e-mailed the Vatican before I went to the Philippines
in February and I invited the Pope to join me on my Asian mission of goodwill. Unfortunately, he didn't even have the common courtesy to respond to me.

[Kaspars Kambala]

Bender, you have very poor taste!

However I am rather intrigued with this matchup. I would probably make the Pope -170. What do the rest of think?

[scott]

mls, I assume you are responding to me. Never was legislating morality or the 'gov't'or any left wing, feel good cause even hinted at. I simply, in good taste, was was alluding to indivuals answering to their own morals. Answering to themselves not legislation.
Scotty

( I'm supposed to be half smart and yet I get involved in this nonsense. I'm a big dog in a pissing contest.)