March 3: Conclave, Cardinals, and New Cartoon

I've seen it happen three times in my life.  Twice in the 1970s and once in 2005.  When I was a young child, Paul VI was pope.  He died in 1978.  Then John Paul I was elected.  He died after one month.  Still in 1978, John Paul II was elected to the papacy.  He served for nearly 30 years.  In 2005, John Paul II died, and Benedict XVI became pope.  Well, as you are probably aware, Benedict decided to retire a little while ago.  He left Rome on February 28.  At the moment, there is no pope.

I love this time.  The whole world is watching as the cardinals descend on Rome.  On Monday, the general congregations of the cardinals begin.  That's when they meet and discuss what kind of leader the Church needs.  They'll also set the date for the beginning of the official conclave, where the voting actually takes place.  There's a possibility that, by the end of this week, a new Bishop of Rome will be chosen.

Of course, the cardinals all say it's a spiritual process, having nothing to do with politics.  That's a load of crap, I think.  I'm sure, over the next few days, a lot of deals are going to be made over plates of linguini.  Of course, there's all kinds of speculation in the media.  Right now, there's African cardinals and Italian cardinals and South American cardinals in the spotlight.  There's even a Canadian cardinal being talked about, eh.  Some websites are taking bets on the name of the next pope.  "Peter" is winning at the moment.

Here's my prediction:  the next pope's probably not even in Rome yet.  He's from Guam or someplace small, flying to Italy on a cheap, turboprop airplane.  He's going to choose a name like "Celestine" or "Boniface" or "Martin."  (Hey, it could happen.)  And when his name is announced, the entire world is going to gasp and say, "Who?"

Saint Marty's favorite thing today:  Pope Martin from American Samoa.

Confessions of Saint Marty