Hundreds of faithful visitors wait for the new Pope in St. Peter’s Square on Tuesday (March 12) in Vatican City, Vatican. Pope Benedict XVI’s successor is being chosen by the College of Cardinals in the Sistine Chapel. RNS photo by Andrea Sabbadini
More black smoke from the Sistine Chapel this morning, meaning the first 3 rounds of balloting to elect a new pope have not yielded a winner. Two more rounds expected this afternoon.
Here’s the most interesting thing we’ve seen so far: the NYT has the Vatican’s recipe for making black smoke (potassium perchlorate, anthracene and sulfur) and white smoke (potassium chlorate, milk sugar and pine rosin). Now all we need is Rachel Ray to do whip that up in 30 minutes or less.
Proof that the Holy Spirit is already protecting the church from error: Justin Bieber’s odds of being elected pope are currently listed at 10,000 to 1.
Our resident Vaticanologist David Gibson says the race to be the 266th pope is anyone’s to win … or lose.
Pastor, shepherd, Vicar of Christ, yada yada yada … maybe what the cardinals need (and are looking for) is a CEO type who can hire, fire and get the Vatican’s bureaucracy back on track.
John XXIV? Leo XIV? Whatever name the new pope chooses, it’s tied up in history, tradition and more than a small dash of symbolism. The clear frontrunner at NameThePope.com? John Paul III.
Whenever a new pope is announced from the balcony of St. Peter’s, you’ll need to know a little Latin to understand his first name (or you could just wait for his last name).
POTUS says he’d be cool with an American pope, and there’s no secret plan for the U.S. to control the Vatican because obviously “I don’t know if you’ve checked lately, but Catholic bishops here in the United States don’t seem to be taking orders from me.”
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles agreed to pay $10 million to settle an abuse lawsuit filed by four men. Paging Cardinal Mahony, please call your office.
Currently circulating around the Interwebs: the Vatican owns a large chunk of a Rome palazzo that also is home to Europe’s largest gay bathhouse. The building is apparently home to staff members for the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples … and the Europa Multiclub.
NYPD Commish Ray Kelly defended (again) his department spy program against Muslims, but won’t say if he read a critical report that said the surveillance made it impossible for many Muslims to, well, live as Muslims.
Coming soon to Colorado: civil unions for gay and lesbian couples.
The History Channel’s “Bible” miniseries scored a healthy 10.8 million viewers in its second week, down 18 percent from its stunning premiere of 13.1 million.
NARTH (National Association for the Research and Therapy of Homosexuality), a prominent ex-gay group, has lost its tax-exempt status for failure to file financial disclosure forms with the IRS. You probably last hear of them with NARTH board member George “Lift My Luggage” Rekers and his traveling assistant.
Christmas comes early from Sarah Palin, the gift that keeps on giving: She’s penning a book about why we shouldn’t take the Christ out of Christmas.
And this, from the Dept. of Decidedly Unkosher: China’s Huangpu River (running by Shanghai) has been the dumping ground for some 6,000 rotting floating pig carcasses. China says the water is still safe to drink. Riiiiight …
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