The cardinals filed into the conclave hall as rain fell outside rain good luck on a wedding day a sign of the Holy Spirit in some minds a token of the undeniable tension that has preceded this time of choosing a new pope Later at 7 42 p m Rome time the smoke was black as expected no electio

Italian weathermen forecast a ninety percent chance of rain today, the first day of the papal conclave of 2013. I can assure you that nothing else about this event is anywhere near that certain. Sources close to the Cardinal-electors confirm what most of the world already knows: no one man has anything approaching the two-thirds of support (77 votes) he will need to ascend to the chair of Saint Peter. Virtually no one expects a decision today. Still, this has been a month of surprises, in an ancient city that is, by its own admission, not entirely comfortable with them.

For centuries the Church has taught that our property rights are not absolute but carry with them social obligations to all of mankind. In the modern age the Church has repeatedly instructed the faithful of the need to regulate market transactions in the service of the common good, and of the importance of intermediate associations like labor organizations in securing justice for working people...

Kristen Day the executive director of Democrats for Life of America offers some unsolicited advice in the Daily News to N Y Governor Andrew Cuomo as he seeks to extend some of the most permissive abortion laws in the nation In his second State of the State address in 2012 Gov Cuomo said that o

I arrived in Rome in the rain grateful for the end of a long bumpy flight Though tempted to kiss the ground mimicking Blessed John Paul II rsquo s customary arrival gesture I opted not to in my case rather than an act of pious humility it would have been an act of desperate relief My fellow

Late news is that the discussion in the General Congregation of cardinals went overtime and not everyone got to speak as time ran out The Vatican Press Office said 28 spoke in the last session for a total of 161 the Irish Times reported Among the presentations that was made Monday morning was o