Watching from so far away, one looks for facts in the daily assertions of news reports and personal opinion. About two quite basic matters, I fear I should have found much less assurance than I have in this space. For one, there is still no date set for the conclave. Perhaps it may not start for some time yet. Can a date be chosen without all the cardinal electors present? There are conflicting reports. Two of the electors expected to attend have not yet arrived. The National Catholic Reporter quoted the Vatican Press Office as saying they are a Polish and a Vietnamese cardinal.

nbsp Ezra Fieser of nbsp Catholic News Service reports on the passing of Hugo Chavez Hugo Chavez a socialist president who transformed Venezuela while acting as chief protagonist in what was one of the worst Catholic Church-government relationships in Latin America died March 5 He was 58 Chavez

What does the future hold for the people of Venezuela following the death of Hugo Chavez As the analysis begins we offer a few pieces from our archives on the challenges facing Venezuela and Latin America in general Here for example is an excerpt from our editorial in 2009 quot The Future with

nbsp A step back My focus is primarily on Catholic sources for the little news there is early in the week For those of us who are most nbsp intensely interested there are a number of small but significant details But even more there is confirmation that some of the issued raised in the genera

I am grateful for the clarity of Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl’s analysis of the role of bishops and theologians in the crucial task of the new evangelization (“The Noble Enterprise,” 2/4).It contextualizes their respective urgent tasks within the larger context of (re)evangelization of cultures and peoples as the church’s primary mission: to make Jesus Christ known.

We have a pope … concept. Amid all our talk about how the problems have weighed on Benedict and embarrassed so many church leaders and aside from the speculation about front-runners to replace the pontiff emeritus, the discussion also turns to the kind of papacy that is needed next. Commonweal’s new issue has some perspective and some concepts. Peter Steinfels, former editor of the magazine and former religion writer for the New York Times writes that Benedict has saved the church from a “prolonged period of disarray” and humanized the papacy with his resignation. His successor -- Pope Novus, Steinfels dubs him – should administer shock therapy to the church, setting a term on the papacy, reforming the process of choosing a successor, embarking on a huge fund-raising program to enable the work of the church, and, most of all, preaching the paschal mystery, the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus.