Urghhhh...!

There is a dead pigeon in my sitting room. The bird either put up a valiant fight, or the kitties wanted to perfect their feather-plucking techniques...

Still Slightly Stunned...

... But, I suspect that I'm not half as stunned as Pope Francis!

When he first cam out onto the balcony, he had that slightly glazed expression of a rabbit caught in the headlights. It can't be easy, suddenly finding yourself responsible for the souls of all the world's Catholics. And remember, one day he will have to account for any who were lost through his actions (or lack of them) before Almighty God.

I wonder if the Holy Father thought at all of Jonah? After all, at the last Conclave, he apparently begged his supporters in a heartfelt plea not to vote for him, and so those votes went towards electing Benedict XVI. So, having dodged the bullet first time around, it must be slightly disconcerting to feel that God has now caught up with him again.

Anyway, I'm still trying to take in the news. Several sources seem to be trying to put a dampener on things. I refuse to take them seriously. The huge disappointment for many people will have been that the Conclave elected a Catholic as Pope. Even worse, he's a man. How terribly reactionary!

I read on one blog that this was a real disaster for the Church because the Holy Father was opposed to the TLM, and didn't allow any to be said in his diocese. In fact, this seems not to be the case - whatever his personal preferences, he arranged for the TLM to be celebrated 48 hours after Summorum Pontificum was promulgated.

Yes, Liturgy is important. But the Holy Father doesn't have to like the TLM, he just has to allow it to continue. Good Liturgy has its own momentum, and will become more and more widespread: clown-Masses and other liturgical abuses are just not attractive to younger people (from what I've seen in the last decade.)

UPDATE: It seems that the implementation had its problems, but my point still stands: Pope Francis isn't likely to do away with Summorum Pontificum. As long as abuses aren't tolerated, personal liturgical preferences and inclinations aren't an issue.

The more I read about our Holy Father, the more I am drawn to him.

The Holy Father is staunchly pro-life. He's spoken out strongly against abortion, against euthanasia and against same-sex "marriage." In talking about these evils,he has mentioned the devil, the Father of Lies. No mealy-mouthed, half-hearted platitudes these, uttered with an idea of appealing to popular opinion.

The Holy Father spent time talking to Benedict XVI before coming out onto the balcony after his election. The delay in coming out to greet the people is an indication that this was no mere courtesy call, and that they had a real heart-to-heart.

Finally, Pope Francis told everyone from the balcony that he intended to go to pray for the people of Rome before Our Lady, and, sure enough, that is what he did.

A Pope with a true devotion to Our Lady. What more could any faithful Catholic need?

Viva Il Papa...!

The waiting game continued... the focus just switched from chimney-watching to curtain-watching. A couple of bands played as they marched below the balcony...

Of all the images which were recorded during the waiting period, I think this was one of the most moving... a rosary clasped in prayer...

At least 100,000 people were present in St. Peter's Square... not bad for a Church which is out of touch with the modern world and totally irrelevant...

Then the excitement grew as lights came on in the room behind the balcony. I was so afraid I'd miss the big moment that I left my dinner unheeded in the microwave...

Cardinal Tauran came out to announce: "Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum: Habemus Papam; Eminentissimum ac reverendissimum Dominum..." Unlike his predecessor, he didn't milk the moment, and the name was said so quickly that I almost missed it...

And then Jorge Cardinal Bergoglio of Buenos Aires was announced as the new Pope, taking the name of Francis.

The poor man looked totally stunned...

Some nice touches - he started with a prayer for the Pope Emeritus. He also asked for prayers from the people for himself... and you could have heard a pin drop in St. Peter's Square: 100,000 people united in silent prayer. He also announced that he was going to pray for Rome before the Blessed Virgin Mary tomorrow.

The Ubi et Orbi blessing was made available to all those listening on the radio, watching on TV or via the new media.

According to the biography published by the Catholic Herald, Pope Francis has a reputation for being a man of great spirituality. Interestingly (to me, at any rate) he received a Masters Degree in Chemistry - a scientist in the Vatican might prove hard for the mainstream media to get its head around!

I shall forgive him the fact that he's a Jesuit... there have been some great Jesuits (Fr. Thwaites  being one of the best examples.) I'm glad that he didn't take the name Peter... those who believe in the prophecies of Malachy will be getting themselves all het up over the fact that we have a "black" Pope (the leader of the Jesuits is nicknamed the Black Pope because of the colour of the Jesuit habit!)

I take great comfort from the fact that, as Bishop of Buenos Aires, Pope Francis has been outspoken on the subject of abortion and same-sex "marriage." Right now, I think that's all I need to know.

God bless Pope Francis.

Habemus Papam...!!

Foul weather isn't enough to prevent huge crowds... all just watching a chimney!

And then, the moment everyone's been waiting for...

And the bells started pealing bang on cue...

Now we just have to wait for the name...

First Ballot...

I watched the chimney via my mobile device all the way through the beginning of the Confirmation class - well, Fr. Finigan was doing that bit. Then the connection froze - possibly my data allowance is nearly gone - and anyway, it was my turn to teach the class. Just before I switched my phone off completely, I got a text message from Vox in Rama announcing the black smoke.

Someone had obviously been given a stern talking-to after the last Conclave, because this time there was absolutely no doubt at all that the smoke was black. It looked rather like a chemistry experiment had gone very wrong, but at least we are absolutely sure of the result of the first ballot...

Fr. James Bradley, of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, (whose Twitter handle is @frjamesbradley) said he'd eat his biretta if there was white smoke tonight. No doubt he's breathing a sigh of relief. His tweets are always entertaining or edifying, or both. My favourite tonight was this one:

My favourite reaction to the black smoke has to be that of the lovely Bones... apparently a pope has  actually been elected:  it's Cardinal Burke, and the burning of the modernists has begun...

And finally it seems that some children from the parish are getting into the swing of things: Annie Elizabeth has been teaching them how to make a chimney... and it seems that the neighbours will be in no doubt once the white smoke appears! I suspect their bell-ringing will be rather more reliable than that of the Vatican!

Extra Omnes...

Much to my annoyance, I have a Confirmation class tonight. This means that I couldn't just settle down for an evening's entertainment of chimney spotting. So, I've done the next best thing. I've rushed over to the church at Blackfen, opened up the church (in case of early arrivals), put on the heating (it's bitterly cold out there) and settled down in the sacristy to chimney-spot on my laptop. My data allowance on my dongle will probably disappear quite quickly, but it's worth it...

I had to settle down in the sacristy because there are hordes of children in the Small Hall - either Brownies or Rainbows or some such group. And I have got about 40 minutes before my class arrives.

I was particularly delighted to get a glimpse of the last few oaths being taken by the Cardinals, and then heard Monsignor Marini declare the "Extra Omnes!" I missed it last time.

Most of the screenshots are from the Vatican News Feed. Fantastic stuff... though it appeared to crash at one point.

Unfortunately, my photo of the actual closing of the doors appears to have been "eaten" by the technology. Once again, I have had one of my blonde moments. I consoled myself with the thought that, if EWTN and The Catholic Herald had technology glitches, then it was hardly surprising that I experienced a few of my own... Luckily for my peace of mind, Rome Reports had a video of the precious moments...

And, if you want to see the moment for yourselves...

Now all there is to do is wait for the smoke...

Along with the rest of the world...

Purr-pabile...

Bruvver Eccles thinks that Cardinal Furretti is the strongest candidate going in to the Conclave tomorrow. I quite like the idea that she puts the "cat" in "Catholic" - she certainly has form when it comes to hunting out heresy, as evinced by her attacks on an article in the Catholic Times by Monsignor Loftus and on The Bitter Pill (the whole publication!)

Tuesday...

I know that the saying goes, "Tomorrow never comes!" but actually tomorrow is the first day of the Conclave.

Eight years ago I was teaching RE (among other things) in a Catholic school, and so had the perfect excuse to keep a Conclave Alert. Lunchtime saw me and the priest-chaplain desperately trying to get a good look at the Sistine Chapel chimney on the first full day of the Conclave via the two very old computers in the staffroom. The internet connection was dire, and there was much frantic refreshing of pages amid cries of, "Is that smoke?" "That's definitely smoke!" "Oh, my goodness, it can't honestly be white, can it??" and "No, it's black!"

This time around, internet connections are good enough to watch films online. Even mobile phones allow this facility (assuming one hasn't used up one's data allowance!) Technology still suffers from occasional glitches - especially in schools, which appear to get fobbed off with sub-standard equipment and poor connections - but it is far better than the technology of eight years ago.

Lots of internet sites will be training their webcams on that most famous of chimneys. The race is on to see who will spot the first wisp of smoke. The timetable for the Conclave has been published (be aware that Rome is 1 hour ahead of GMT), and the times when smoke can be expected have been detailed. Pope Alarm is a text and email service which offers to let people know as soon as white smoke is sighted. Unfortunately, the text service is only available in the USA and Canada... and it's proved so popular that they aren't able to take any more numbers for texting. The email service is, however, open to everyone.

The Sistine Chapel chimney even has its own twitter account (several, actually!): there's @PapalSmokeStack, @ConclaveStove, @ConclaveChimney, @PapalSmoke and @PopeAlarm. We're almost spoiled for choice! Plus there are all the Catholics on the blogosphere who will be blogging and tweeting away.

Perversely, I am no longer teaching in a Catholic school, and I'm teaching Science. Not much scope in the curriculum for loading up the Catholic Herald's Liveblog which is due to start at 9am GMT. And using one's mobile phone in class is generally frowned upon... the students aren't allowed them either. Stepping out into the corridor in the middle of a Science lesson might also prove tricky... a lump of potassium filched from teacher's table while her back is turned could cause havoc if dropped down a drain.

Hmmm. Now there's a thought...