Pope Watch 2005: Day 1
April 18, 2005 
Pope John Paul II is gone now, his papal ring crushed yesterday in a ceremony based on tradition.
This can only mean one thing: It’s Pope Watch time. That’s when all the cardinals in Rome start their conclave to choose a new pope. After the daily security team does their Sistine Chapel bug sweep, of course.
It has been interesting hearing about the pope selection process every day since Pope John Paul II passed away. And in general, the idea of selecting a pope is new to many people is fascinating, since a lot of people have only know one pope (or were two young to remember the last selection process).
But all of this is being covered like a normal US presidential election on television. And, believe me, after the 2004 presidential soap-opera, with a sad ending for many, people are all electioned-out.
All that aside, it seems like a good idea to cover the process now, just in case the next pope lasts a similarly long amount of time and the next generation being born forgets how it all went down. So each day will include a brief commentary and related news stories for you to read along from home.
Let’s hope the cardinals pray a lot and select a pope that will pay attention to the current problems facing the church.
RELATED:
– Cardinals Begin Secret Talks to Elect Pope [ABC]
– Papal conclave a mix of ritual and hi-tech security [Sify]
– Liberal cardinals hope to make pope [Herald Sun]
SMOKE UPDATE: (2:05PM ET) All the 24-hour news channels are now showing gray, no, blackish smoke coming from the conclave chimney. No new pope today, folks.
Stay tuned to the chimney cam CityCynic.com for the latest commentary.
