Let the serious deals begin

 

While just a single vote will be held on the opening day of the conclave, four rounds are expected on subsequent days (two in the morning, two in the afternoon).

If no candidate is selected after the third day, the voting is paused for a day of prayer before resuming.

The field is narrowed to two candidates if no pope is selected after 21 rounds of voting, but every conclave in more than a century has wrapped up long before then.

[...]

The pope doesn't technically need to be a cardinal, but every pope for nearly three centuries has been.

Pope Francis elevated 108 of the 135 eligible electors and brought more geographical diversity to the College of Cardinals.

  Axios

The Vatican doesn't release voting details, but it appears that Pope John Paul II won the election on the first ballot in 1978, and before that, Pius XII in 1939.

I imagine in 1939, the rise of Hitler may have been a factor in a quick decision. but I have no evidence to back that up.

UPDATE 11:47 am:  That was quick.

Stay tuned for the reveal.

Pope Leo XIV - Robert Prevost, an American.  I hope that works out.

More here

Not encouraging.

Aaaaaaaaaaand, they're off

 

He Must Be Crazy - Going to the Vatican When He Should Be in New York

[The problem is] the Vermont senator’s departure from New York in the final days before an election that’s pivotal to his bid for the Democratic nomination. [Sanders'] decision to jet to Rome has heightened the anxiety level of supporters who don’t think he has the luxury of stepping out of the primary crucible.

[...]

Any opportunity to significantly break into Clinton’s lead in New York could change the public narrative of the race, they think, even if such a result wouldn’t dramatically change Sanders’ position in the pledged delegate contest.

[...]

While most international trips during campaign season come after the conventions — such as open meetings and addresses in the United Kingdom or Israel, or in Barack Obama’s case, Germany in 2008 — the senator is only scheduled to deliver one brief speech and he is not slated to publicly meet with any foreign leaders, let alone the pope.

[...]

Such thoughts are common among Sanders’ allies, who for weeks have played up the importance of his performance in New York.

  Politico

Nice job, Politico. Eight paragraphs into the story, headlined Bernie's allies sweat Vatican trip (but before it was learned he actually did meet the Pope), the writer has disparaged Bernie through the guise of "supporters who don’t think he has the luxury of stepping out of the primary crucible." Eight paragraphs.

Paragraph nine begins:

Few Sanders allies are willing to criticize the senator for the trip, even privately. To them, the decision makes perfect sense.

[...]

The thinking, in Sanders’ circles, is that a swift return to New York on Saturday is quick enough to keep his supporters engaged ahead of Tuesday’s vote —

WTF? Do his supporters think it's a mistake or a good deal? Make up your mind.

— and to keep his international sojourn from becoming a significant distraction.

A significant distraction? An invitation to the Vatican to speak about the cult of money is a distraction? It's precisely what his campaign is based on, and since when did a meeting with the Pope do any politician harm?

But, Politico isn't the only source taking this angle.

Mr. Sanders’s decision to leave the campaign trail days before Tuesday’s primary was a bit of a gamble. Though the trip received widespread press coverage, he relinquished a full day of campaigning in a state where he trails Mrs. Clinton by double digits, polls show. New York is one of the best chances left for Mr. Sanders to cut into his opponent’s lead of 250 pledged delegates for the Democratic nomination.

Steve McMahon, a Democratic strategist not aligned with either candidate, said in an interview before Mr. Sanders departed: “He’s going to perhaps lose a little bit of momentum in New York and come back very tired going into the home stretch. I don’t see the political benefit they [the Sanders campaign] apparently see.”

  WSJ

Perhaps we could understand, if not forgive, the Wall Street Journal for not seeing how a conference on the plight of the poor could benefit a presidential contestant.

No mind. But if Bernie taking two days out of New York to speak at the Vatican was problematic, what about Hillary's time out?

Tickets to the Clinton fundraiser [in Los Angeles this weekend], which was attended by about 150 supporters, started at $33,400. Co-hosts included Jeffrey and Marilyn Katzenberg, Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw and Haim and Cheryl Saban.

Once Clinton's motorcade arrived, Sanders supporters held high signs that read "Feel the Bern! Only $27" -- a reference to the cost of the counter-fundraiser -- and "Goldman Sach's Loves Hillary. Feel the Bern." Some supporters also showered her motorcade with money, an apparent jab at Clinton's perceived close relationship with Wall Street.

  ABC News

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

It's Sunday

The new pope is almost as old as the old pope.  But he doesn't look half as mean.  He's still the head of a criminal organization, though.  And he knows their crimes.  I'm not expecting him to turn anyone in.

Anyhow, may I introduce Pope Francis I, Argentinian (I know) Jorge Bergoglio...

Here's an article written about him earlier this month.

It's Sunday

It's Sunday

It's becoming generally apparent that, in terms of moral credibility, the Church would do better to hand the decision of choosing the next pope over to 100 randomly selected punters from the clubhouse turn at Aqueduct than to the current Clan Of The Red Beanie. [...]

They include cardinals from Belgium, Chile and Italy. They include the dean of the College of Cardinals, Angelo Sodano, who is accused of taking large monetary gifts from a religious order, the Legion of Christ, and halting an investigation into its founder, the Rev. Marcial Maciel - who was later exposed as a pathological abuser and liar. They also include cardinals reviled by many in their own countries, like Cardinal Sean Brady, the primate of All Ireland, who survived an uproar after government investigations uncovered endemic cover-ups of the sexual and physical abuse of minors. "There's so many of them," said Justice Anne Burke, a judge in Illinois who served on the American bishops' first advisory board 10 years ago. "They all have participated in one way or another in having actual information about criminal conduct, and not doing anything about it. What are you going to do? They're all not going to participate in the conclave?"  

      [...]The only possible Christian answer is, "Yes. They should all be run out of any office of spiritual authority and sent to an island somewhere on which they can turn to cannibalism."

  Charlie Pierce

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.