WORLD & NATION
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Benedict resigns, Francis named pope in record time
BY SYDNEY HAWKINS
Following the resignation of Pope Benedict
XVI, Pope Francis of Buenos Aires was elected
by the cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church
on March 13 in the shortest papal conclave in
history.
The 85-year-old Pope Benedict retired on
Feb 28 after serving in his role as pope since
2005, succeeding Pope John Paul II.
Pope Benedict said in his statement of
resignation that he no longer feels suited
to adequately execute the Petrine ministry,
according to CNN.
While Pope Benedict remains in good
health, he feels his age is hindering him from
using his strengths in his position.
"To be honest, 85 is not very old for a
Pope and for him to cite 'health and personal
reasons' is a little sketchy to me. However, his
reasons are his own, and if he feels like it is for
the benefit of the church ... then it is the right
move to make," said Catholic and senior Ben
Nelson in an email interview.
This papal resignation is the first in nearly
600 years. There have been mixed feelings
about Benedicfs decision throughout the
Catholic Church.
Canon law, the laws and regulations
adopted by many religions — Catholics
included — states that resignation must be
made freely and in clear conscience. Because
Pope Benedict is in his right mind, his
resignation is acceptable. Medically, there is
nothing wrong with Benedict; he claims to
only feel weak because of his age.
After resignation, the conclave of, or
process of selection. Pope Francis began.
The 2013 papal conclave was the shortest in
history, beginning March 12 and ending the
following day.
During a conclave, the cardinals- of the
church gather and must have two-thirds of
the majority to elect a fellow cardinal.
The first ballot and the three that followed
produced black smoke from the Sistine
Chapel's chimney, showing that the ballot
was inconclusive. On the fifth ballot, white
smoke announced that the new pope had
been chosen.
Originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina,
Pope Francis was bom Jorge Mario Bergoglio.
He was appointed archbishop of Buenos Aires
in 1998 and proclaimed cardinal by Pope John
Paul II in 2001.
Bergoglio was different from other cardinals
because he used public transportation and
refused to live in the church mansion. "He's a
moderate man with some reformist tendencies
... open to reform and to a more positive vision
of the church," said Marco Politi, a Vatican
analyst, to The Christian Science Monitor.
Pope Francis is also a Jesuit and, according
to Yahoo, Jesuits who have a reputation for
earnestly following their vows of poverty.
Pope Francis's mark may be left in his desire
to reform poverty and inequality because of
his modest lifestyle.
"I think the Pope will make a series of
surface level changes tg make the church more
open and accepting, something that I feel the
Church has gotten away from in recent years
... lately (under Pope Benedict XVTs reign) I
feel like the Church has become increasingly
judgmental," said Nelson.
"(His simple lifestyle) may be very
threatening to the papal court, especially
(Left) Pope Benedict XVI greeting Vatican City. (Right) Pope Francis was elected March 13.
those who like to dress up," said Rev. Thomas
Reese, a Vatican expert at the Woodstock
Theological Center at Georgetown University
to The Christian Science Monitor. Also unique
to this papacy is the relationship between
Benedict and Francis.
There are no records of a current pope
and former pope meeting in person because
popes are oidy chosen after the death of his
predecessor.
Pope Francis's Jesuit background is seen in
his relationship with Benedict, claiming that
the two are equals.
Benedict gave Pope Francis the right-hand
seat in the car going to church and chose the
lesser left-hand seat for himself. Also, instead
of taking the front kneeler in church when
they went to pray, Francis politely refused
saying "no, we are brothers," and insisted
they pray side-by-side.
Although white is traditionally the color of
only the pope, both wore white and Francis
wore the traditional gold sash of the papacy.
and the two men embraced one another.
Concerns have been expressed about the
future of the relationship between the pope
and his former. Vatican experts worry that
there will be a rival for power and public
loyalty. Currently, the Vatican is racing to
prevent internal conflict by setting procedures
for the life of the Church after a pope resigns.
Benedict hopes to live in seclusion in the
Vatican, but Francis refuses to let this happen.
Instead, he has called Benedict frequently to
wish him a happy name day and mentioned
Benedict after his election, where he^asked the
crowd to pray for the former pope.
"I will be very interested to see, however,
if he really makes good on his promise to not
have any sort of authoritative role witliin the
Catholic Church," said Nelson.
After spontaneous resignation and speedy
election, the Vatican remains a thriving
religious force. Now the Church must navigate
the transition of power and the unprecedented
challenge of having two living popes.
In conjunction with the Bullforii
College Art Faculty Biennial
Exhihition, the college’s Art
Gallery presents:
Panel discussion led by Kathrvn Shields,
assistant professor of art nistory
Thursday, April 4, 7:30—9 p.m. in
the gallery of Hege Library.
Admission is free and open to the public.
The nine faculty artists will discuss their
art-making processes and philosophies
and win take questions from the
audience.
The faculty artists include :
Adele Wayman
Roy Nydorf
Mark Dixon,
Charlie Tefft
Maia Dery
Kaitlyn Barlow
Nicki Deyton
Phil Haralam
Juie Rattley III
For additional information, please contact
Terry
itional information,^
Hammond at (336)
316-2438
Rhino poaching crisis: today, tomorrow, how much longer?
BY RISHAB REVANKAR
StAf^WrirrtR
High above the vast grasslands of South Africa's Kruger
National Park, a helicopter armed with tranquilizer guns zeroes
in on its prey: a black rhinoceros bull.
With its target locked, the helicopter crew fires an array of
tranquilizer darts.
BulTs-eye.
Upon landing, the crew members set out to complete a job
half-done, vigorously hacking off the rhino's horn with a two-
stroke chainsaw.
Now dehorned, the rhino dies from an overdose of
tranquilizers or bleeds to death.
The slaughtering of the rhino is deeply ingrained in South
African culture. Home to 80 percent of Africa's rhino. South
Africa saw 633 rhinos killed by poachers in 2012.
"That number shows the scale of the poaching crisis," said
Katherine Ellis, office and communications manager of Save the
Rhino International, to The Guilfordian. "It is a pretty serious
crisis rhinos are facing at the moment."
Save the Rhino has monitored professional poachers who are
launching high-tech attacks on the endangered black rhino.
"Criminal gangs and syndicates go in there with night vision,
helicopters, chainsaws and gunshot silencers," said Ellis. "So
despite intense security, these gangs often get away with it."
The prospect of driving the rhino into extinction does not
seem to concern local poachers. From a poacher's perspective,
the rhino is merely a placeholder for a much more coveted
prize: the rhino horn.
"A rhino can be dehorned without it being killed, but
poachers will kill the rhino to hack off all of the horn they can
get, which leaves the rhino bleeding to death," said Ellis.
"The horn is very desirable, and one reason is medicinal
purposes," said Professor of Biology Lynn Moseley. "But there
has never been any proof whatsoever that it remedies digestive
ailments."
In the oil-rich Middle East, the rhino horn is a trophy for
young men who sport the horn on dagger handles.
"With a ton of money in oil-rich nations, the demand for
rhino horn continues," said Moseley. "And where you have
demand, you have people willing to supply."
Flourishing economically and in numbers, poachers are a
force to be reckoned with. Despite the poachers' advantages,
some activists continue the fight to end the slaughtering of
rhinos.
Damien Mander, a front-line Australian soldier-turned-
environmentalist, is founder and CEO of the International Anti-
Poaching Foundation.
"I was traveling through South Africa and saw a problem,"
Mander told The Guilfordian. "It is one of these things in life
you run into, and you can turn your back on it — which is quite
easy to do — or you can fight the bull, so to speak."
Mander incorporates military skills to create standardized
anti-poaching training programs. These programs serve as
models for over 16 nations and emphasize protecting the rhino
specifically.
"To us, the rhino is the heart of all animals," said Mander. "If
we aim to protect the rhino, we know that everything else in the
ecosystem is being looked after.
However, Mander believes that fighting for the rhino is not
solely the responsibility of anti-poaching foundations. His
message is that ending poaching is everyone s fight.
"You guys at Guilford are college students, the minds of
tomorrow," said Mander. "Everyone needs to chip in, and it is
everyone's responsibility to understand what is going on."
It is a pretty straightforward question: rhino or no rhino?
Only we can decide.