” Pope Francis doesn’t have to thank capitalism, a system that has done far more to alleviate poverty, his pet crusade, than the institution he leads. But he should at least stop demonizing it—not least because it enables the very activity that he cherishes most: charity.
” More than 100 cardinals began to meet inside the heart of the Catholic Church today to elect a new pope. As they gather in conclave inside the Sistine Chapel to choose a successor to Benedict XVI, explore 10 things you may not know about the Vatican.
3. Caligula captured the obelisk that stands in St. Peter’s Square.
Roman Emperor Caligula built a small circus in his mother’s gardens at the base of Vatican Hill where charioteers trained and where Nero is thought to have martyred the Christians. To crown the center of the amphitheater, Caligula had his forces transport from Egypt a pylon that had originally stood in Heliopolis. The obelisk, made of a single piece of red granite weighing more than 350 tons, was erected for an Egyptian pharaoh more than 3,000 years ago. In 1586 it was moved to its present location in St. Peter’s Square, where it does double duty as a giant sundial. “
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” The Catholic Church will have a pope within “a few days,” predicted Archbishop of Vienna Christoph Schoenborn, a participant in the conclave that opens Tuesday.
Schoenborn said he’s seen a spirit of camaraderie “I’ve rarely experienced” in the week before balloting begins to select a successor to Benedict XVI, who resigned last month, citing health and age, ANSA reported Monday.
“In a few days we will have the new Holy Father,” Schoenborn said.
U.S. Cardinal Timothy Dolan evaded Roman parishioners’ calls for him to succeed Benedict, telling worshipers and the rector of Our Lady of Guadalupe on Monte Mario he hoped to visit the congregation again before he returned to New York.
The 63-year-old archbishop of New York and Washington, D.C., Archbishop Donald Wuerl, 72, are the two U.S. cardinals seen as strong papal candidates. “
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” Yesterday morning a Lutheran friend sent me an email joking that he was “off Team Turkson” on account of Turkson campaigning for the job of pope. That would be Ghana’s Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson. Now, I realize just how unseemly it is for a churchman to campaign for any job but this may be an unfair reading of an interview Turkson gave in the Telegraph.
Some media outlet called The Week pretty much just recycled someone else’s work into their story headlined “Peter Turkson not shy about his wish to become first black Pope.”
CARDINAL Peter Turkson, the Ghanaian prelate who is hotly-tipped to become the next Pope, has given a candid interview about the “life-changing” responsibility of leading the Catholic Church.
I know of at least three African popes and I don’t believe I’ve heard anything about their skin color. I have heard that Victor I — the first African pope — was the first black pope but I don’t think that’s been proven. Apparently skin color is a more modern obsession. As for Miltiades and Gelasius I — and any other African popes — no reports on their skin color.”
” Pope Benedict XVI is to resign at the end of this month after nearly eight years as the head of the Catholic Church, saying he is too old to continue at the age of 85.
The unexpected development – the first papal resignation in nearly 600 years – surprised governments, Vatican-watchers and even his closest aides.
The then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger became Pope after John Paul II’s death.
The Vatican says it expects a new Pope to be elected before Easter.
The BBC’s Alan Johnston in Rome says the news has come “out of the blue”, and that there was no speculation whatsoever about the move in recent days.”
Eric Allie’s Furious Diaper
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