Good day from Rome the first day of the pontificate of Pope Francis It rsquo s a very ordinary Thursday here one would never know that a little less than 24 hours ago the city was a frenzy of tears cheers smiles and prayers The rain fell hard last night as what seemed like half of Italy made

From The Jesuit Guide to Almost Anything They invented the trap door Without the Jesuits who wrote and directed plays in their 16th and 17th-century schools modern theater mdash and film mdash would be vastly different To take one example the Wicked Witch of the West wouldn 39 t have been able

ldquo Papa Pancho rdquo that rsquo s what his fellow Argentines are already calling Pope Francis ldquo Pancho rdquo is the Spanish diminutive for Francis Francis of course was originally a nickname of sorts too meaning ldquo Frenchie rdquo for Saint Francis rsquo s father 39 s trading

Vatican Insider at La Stampa has some of the most substantial coverage of Cardinal Bergoglio 39 s more provocative speeches in the past few years nbsp It also has a very frank interview with him from the most recent consistory nbsp All are worth reading nbsp I excerpt some highlights below U

nbsp Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio 76 was elected the 266th pope and took the name Francis The election March 13 came on the first full day of the conclave on the conclave 39 s fifth ballot It was a surprisingly quick conclusion to a conclave that began with many plausible candidates

Pray for this Francis here rsquo s some of what faces him White smoke reported at 7 05 p m in Rome 2 05 p m Eastern Daylight Time They have we have a new pope My Pope Alarm application delivered 15 minutes later at 2 20 Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina archbishop of Buenos Aire