New Pope

custom.pope.benedict
Originally uploaded by jlyn1267.

I have been following the happenings at Vatican City with interest over the past month. It's an interesting process, a pope dying and being laid to rest and another being chosen. The secrecy, the old customs, the pomp and circumstance. I think of the Sistene Chapel and of red cardinals locking themselves into it. I think of Latin echoing in the walls. The result? Pope Benedict XVI.

I suppose I have mixed feelings about this choice, on some level I don't care. I go about Catholicism in my own way and it doesn't really matter who leads the Catholic Church. But on another, I feel as if good changes can be made with a new man in the high seat - but given Ratzinger's traditionalist ways, it seems as if that's not going to happen. While I don't expect the church to hand out condoms on Sundays, it would be nice if they acknowledged some of the archaicness of the Church in the 21st Century.

On another note, I would like to take a moment to acknowledge how grateful I am for my friend Kelly Anne. Whom else could you call at noon on a Tuesday and have a deep theological discussion? Love ya Kel!