White Smoke

Looks like there's a new Pope elected into office.  I'm pretty surprised by how quick the turn around was.  If I recall correctly, I thought the election of the last pope was a while.  I certainly didn't anticipate them voting on a new one before Easter.  I don't know why I'm so surprised.

I'm actually looking forward to seeing what will come next.  I know the election of the last Pope wasn't so long ago, but I don't really remember much about it.  Last time, I also didn't have much of a vested interest in what was going on.  I think other things were making my life 'too busy' to care.  Also, I wasn't quite ready to become Catholic yet.  I mean, I suppose I could always read about the process on the internet somewhere, but something about watching it play out just seems so much more interesting.  I wish I would have been able to come home early today in time to see the white smoke on the news for myself!

Episode IV: A New Pope

It's a time of transition in the Catholic Church.  For the first time in almost 700 years, the Pope has elected to step down.  Now the Cardinals will have to come together to determine the fate of the Church...

I was wondering what happens after the Pope steps down.  Does he get retirement benefits?  Does he get housing?  What does this mean?  These aren't questions that I have answered yet, just things I've been thinking about.  From what I understand so far, the only thing it really means is that a new Pope must be elected.  So...probably nothing major.  Although a lot of questions have been floating around the internet about whether or not the Church will see major changes if a more liberal Pope is elected.

I don't really see this happening.  At least not as far as current issues go.  But we'll have to see what the future holds!