A pastor of small gestures, stories from a dark time, waiting for confirmation

Papa Francisco cuts a different figure taking the bus with the cardinals back to the Vatican guesthouse after being elected pontiff Wednesday so he could collect his belongings and pay his hotel bill to set an example for other clergy see the report nbsp by Catherine Harmon of the National Catho

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

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

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

The number 77 is a bella figura, an American buzz, and the smoke next time The cardinals will celebrate a Mass for the election of a Roman pontiff on Tuesday morning, March 12, in St. Peter’s Basilica and that afternoon will begin the conclave, says a report Friday from Vatican Radio. Needed for election are 77 votes, said Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican press secretary. This weekend, the cardinals will meet in General Congregation again on Saturday morning and on Sunday many are expected to visit their Roman churches and celebrate Mass.

The gang’s all here. Cardinal Jean-Baptiste Pham Minh Man, the last elector to arrive, landed in Rome Thursday afternoon, n time to attend the evening session of the General Congregation. EWTN’s David Uebbing quoted the Vatican press secretary, Father Federico Lombardi, as saying: “The Vietnamese cardinal made his journey today, and some Vietnamese priests from Vatican Radio are meeting him at the airport. We will see if he is here in time for this afternoon’s meeting.”

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 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

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.