"LOOK!!!” the roar shouted in twenty languages, translatable only by the pointing and the excitement about. “LOOK! BLACK SMOKE!”

The roar eased off into a sighing groan. It was black smoke, yes—but it was black smoke. The process works, but the process did not produce a pope.

We were nevertheless on an adrenaline rush: WE had seen smoke IN Vatican City! We were a part of something that hadn’t taken place in over 27 years. We were witnessing not just local history—or even continental history, for that matter. We were witnessing history on a global—if not universal—level. Wow!