Smoke Wars Episode IV: A New Pope

The balcony of St. Peter's

Craziness in Rome! Since the moment Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation, this city has been a little crazier than usual. Once conclave began, absolute nuttiness ensued. There were/are much to many people, including a swarm of reporters all over the city. Needless to say, the reporter hotspot was the Vatican, just outside the colonnade of St. Peter's Square.

Interview with CNN!

Some of us even got interviews with various news agencies.

 

Black smoke from the Sistine Chapel

 
It seems that this semester was perfectly timed for us! First we have a Pope step down while we are in Rome. Then, the College of Cardinals decide that they will hold conclave the week that we all returned from Spring Break. Finally, the night we were all in St. Peter's Square meeting our program director for dinner with The Provost of The Catholic University of America, there was white smoke.

Our initial reaction upon seeing the smoke: "Look smoke... white smoke? WHITE SMOKE! GO!" As the bells tolled, we pushed our way up as far as we could and awaited the announcement and arrival of the new Pope! Holy Smokes! :)

WHITE SMOKE!

There was a constant flock of seagulls above the chimney on the Sistine Chapel. When I saw this I decided it was a good time to make my prediction about the name of the newly elected Pope. "What saint liked animals, Francis? Yeah, Francis. What if he picked the name Francis?"

Next thing we knew, the windows opened, cardinals made their way onto the balconies of St. Peter's.

Cardinals on the balconies

Then, the Dean of the College of Cardinals came out and announced the new Pope, Francesco. Naturally, the square went insane, Francis of Assisi is one of Italy's two patron saints.

Pope Francis

Any Pope that starts things off with a joke is good enough for me. "You know that the duty of the conclave was to give a bishop to Rome. It seems that my brother cardinals went almost to the end of the world to get him. But here we are."

Pope Francis' first words to the world

After leaving St. Peter's Square, we went to our scheduled dinner with The Catholic University of America's Provost. We were all so excited -- and exhausted, we got back to the dorms from dinner sometime after midnight.

Celebratory dinner

 The next Tuesday, March 19th, all of our classes were cancelled so we could attend Pope Francis' Inaugural Mass. We arrived at St. Peter's at 5:35am, the Pope entered the square promptly at 9. Our spots weren't as good as the ones we got for Pope Benedict's final audience, but we still got to see him.

Pope Francis (right)

"Today, together with the feast of Saint Joseph, we are celebrating the beginning of the ministry of the new Bishop of Rome, the Successor of Peter, which also involves a certain power... Let us never forget that authentic power is service, and that the Pope too, when exercising power, must enter ever more fully into that service which has its radiant culmination on the Cross. He must be inspired by the lowly, concrete and faithful service which marked Saint Joseph and, like him, he must open his arms to protect all of God’s people and embrace with tender affection the whole of humanity, especially the poorest, the weakest, the least important, those whom Matthew lists in the final judgment on love: the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and those in prison (cf. Mt 25:31-46). Only those who serve with love are able to protect!" - Pope Francis