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

Italian weathermen forecast a ninety percent chance of rain today, the first day of the papal conclave of 2013. I can assure you that nothing else about this event is anywhere near that certain. Sources close to the Cardinal-electors confirm what most of the world already knows: no one man has anything approaching the two-thirds of support (77 votes) he will need to ascend to the chair of Saint Peter. Virtually no one expects a decision today. Still, this has been a month of surprises, in an ancient city that is, by its own admission, not entirely comfortable with them.

In January 2012 I began blogging a commentary on the Gospel of Mark available at the Bible Junkies blog and now at America Magazine which I completed just last week My somewhat ambitious goal is to write an online commentary on every New Testament document though I have given myself the equally

For centuries the Church has taught that our property rights are not absolute but carry with them social obligations to all of mankind. In the modern age the Church has repeatedly instructed the faithful of the need to regulate market transactions in the service of the common good, and of the importance of intermediate associations like labor organizations in securing justice for working people...

Kristen Day the executive director of Democrats for Life of America offers some unsolicited advice in the Daily News to N Y Governor Andrew Cuomo as he seeks to extend some of the most permissive abortion laws in the nation In his second State of the State address in 2012 Gov Cuomo said that o

I arrived in Rome in the rain grateful for the end of a long bumpy flight Though tempted to kiss the ground mimicking Blessed John Paul II rsquo s customary arrival gesture I opted not to in my case rather than an act of pious humility it would have been an act of desperate relief My fellow

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

When should we look for white smoke Until a pope is elected twice a day there will be black smoke around noon and 7 PM White smoke could appear at these times or earlier around 10 30 AM or 4 30 PM if a pope is elected on the first ballot of the morning or afternoon Read Father Reese 39 s full Q

Cambridge MA The world around me is uneasy and in dire straits the Pope resigns Congress remains dysfunctional the environment is increasingly out of balance and so many people live in situations of terrible deprivation And still I persist in blogging through Lent not on these timely issues

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.

From USA Today ROME shy mdash Finally at least one wait is over The conclave to select the next leader of the world 39 s 1 2 billion Catholics will begin Tuesday Vatican officials said Friday capping a week of meetings among cardinals that created a stir due to leaks and an eventual press bla

North Korean stalwart China joined the United States in a unanimous U N Security Council vote for tougher sanctions against North Korea on March 8 targeting the secretive nation 39 s nuclear program Just hours before the Kim regime in Pyongyang threatened a possible quot preemptive nuclear att

Samuel Johnson commented famously that the significance of a dog walking on its hind legs was not that it was done well but that it was done at all. As we celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of Vatican II, Johnson’s comment might apply to one of the most extraordinary achievements of that counc

In the pilot episode of “Girls,” the much-discussed HBO series now in its second season, Hannah, the show’s main character, gets high, gets angsty and gets worried looks from her parents when she describes the importance of her partly-completed memoir. Groggy, she announces: &ldquo

Sam Roberts reports in this morning rsquo s New York Times that come this fall the International Herald Tribune will be re-branded as the International New York Times This is the last stage in a long and inevitable transformation The IHT as it is known has been partly or wholly owned by the Time

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.”

Jesus preached by way of parable I reckon that if it worked for the master the disciple can ply the same craft which is why I often begin sermons with a story something that hopefully has a emotional hook to draw in the hearer But the Parable of the Prodigal Son is already so emotionally evoc

In a recent Boston Herald article, Matt Stout makes a bold claim about what a Sean O'Malley papacy might look like--literally. He quotes Boston's Franciscan Cardinal as saying, "I have worn this uniform for over 40 years and I presume I will wear it until I die." The punch line of course follows, "because I don't expect to be elected Pope." A humble response from a humble man.