HABEMUS PAPAM!!!!

That is, "We have a Pope!"

***** And the narrative is done!!!! *****

Before Benedict XVI was ever Benedict XVI, he was Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, author of “The Ratzinger Report” and “Introduction to Christianity” and other such books and articles which bear the name “Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger” on them and in my papers. I knew the man-soon-to-be-Pope in much the same way I knew the man-who-had-been-pope: through his philosophy. This man’s intellect cannot possibly be contained in his short frame. I like to say that he is “Pope Concentrate.”

But, again, before Joseph became Benedict, he led the Conclave Mass—the last public appearance of the Cardinals before they enter the Sistine Chapel to elect the successor of Peter—not merely of John Paul—but of Peter.

I was unable to make the Conclave Mass, where this picture was taken. I had just returned from Lourdes. That 20-hour journey, which included an overnight and sleepless train ride, was enough to do me in until class at 3:30.

After class, though, the six of us “booked” it down to the Vatican to wait for the first sign of smoke. Not too many people were down there, since never in history had a pope been elected on the first try.

But, by “not too many” I mean that there were probably about 20 or 30 thousand people around. Not too many to see smoke.

Of course, the media came out in full force. And, as you watched their pictures, we watched them with their cameras. We saw the “FoxNews” and “ABC” and “CNN” labels on the cameras. Truly, St. Peter’s Square became one giant “set.”

After about an hour of waiting at our fountain, we—who had booked it over from class and were now leisurely standing about, hands in our pockets, talking about whatever conversation blew about in the wind—we were suddenly startled by a roar in the crowd.

"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!

Of course, all of the media thought it important to show you black smoke too….

And some of that media thought it important to interview us. Here with the camera is Jamie from ABC. Jamie is putting together a documentary for ABC (for sale on DVD in December) on the last days of the Pope, the funeral, and the beginning days of the new Pope, his election, etc. It should be a three-disc DVD documentary that tracks the “emotional journey” of the death of a pope and the selection of a new one.

Here, Jamie is interviewing me—and she interviewed all of us for about an hour. Impressed by our eloquence and knowledge of the faith (funny that she should run into six theology students…), she asked if we would be at the fountain in the morning. “Oh yes, yes we will” we replied.

And so, the next day we came out to the very same fountain, some of us wearing the very same clothes….

And we gathered for the surest sign of communication in this technologically advanced world: puffs of smoke. You may find that funny, but I find the ritual so incredibly beautiful. I mean, the Cardinals could notify us via email…. but what fun would that be? I mean, the adrenaline rush after seeing smoke after hours of waiting—THAT is amazing.

As the late afternoon became early evening, we awaited smoke. Now, in case you don’t know, there are only two times that you could see smoke in the early evening: the first possibility comes after the first vote. If smoke happens after the first vote, that means a pope has been elected—and it will be white smoke. The only other time you may see smoke is after the second vote, meaning that either that a pope is elected or a pope has not been elected. In both cases, black smoke means no pope; white smoke means we have a pope.

The problem is: we don’t know when the first vote ends. So, when we see smoke, we don’t know if it is after the first vote or after the second vote. If it happens after the first vote, we are certain we have a pope. And, no matter what, whenever a pope is finally elected, the bells of St. Peter’s will ring.

Well, an hour into the evening session of the second day of the conclave, we saw smoke!!! All of St. Peter’s Square goes in an uproar: “LOOK!!!!! SMOKE!!!!”

But, it is windy. And there are low clouds about. And we don’t know what color the smoke is. And we’re really not too sure if this is after the first vote or the second vote. And the bells aren’t ringing.

But, people around us are staring a little harder at the smoke. Some jump up and down, believing that it is white, trying to convince others that what they see is the sign of a completed conclave. Others look around, looking for an answer.

Clapping and a roar of excitement bubbles in corners of the Square. Several waves roll through the crowd, but none remain. We just aren’t sure. Could it be that we have a pope after just four votes? No……. right?

Then, BELLS!


Now, I can’t really fully explain the sensations I experienced when those bells began to tong. They were the same bells that knelled at the funeral mass of John Paul—but now they signaled, and with all the bells of all of Rome, the life of the successor of Peter. The sadness of the past was suddenly washed by the tolling which rang into the deepest recesses of my being. I began to jump up and down.

we don't know!

Gravity did not apply to me anymore. Tingles of excitement and joy poured from my head and down my back. I had to hug someone. Anyone. WE HAVE A POPE! I shouted! Soon, even words escaped me. “AAAAAAH!!!!!” I yelled. My face became a perpetual smile, my eyes unblinking, my soul joyously celebrating this new life—this life of a new pope. I had, in the past weeks, experienced the passion and death of John Paul. With his funeral, I began to see a resurrection. Now, it was complete. Truly, this was Easter again.

Over and over I repeated: “Oh my gosh, we have a pope!!!!”

As the bells of St. Peter’s rang clear and revealed truly that the smoke was white and the pope elected—as they rang, so did all the bells of the hundreds of churches around Rome. The sound had to have been deafening. But the sound harkened all believers and all non-believers to the Square. “COME!” the church bells announced to the world, “FOLLOW ME! WE HAVE A SUCCESSOR OF PETER TO WELCOME!”

Everyone rightfully listened. In a matter of minutes—literally, minutes—20 thousand people in St. Peter’s Square became 200 thousand people.

I still could not believe that we had a pope. I swore it was black smoke all along. The bells proved me a liar—but nevertheless, we had a pope! As the wave of people filled St. Peter’s Square to welcome the new Peter, me and my friends found a spot up close in the front.

The curtains, drawn in anticipation of a new pope, were lowered and a Cardinal emerged. The celebratory crowd, loud as the bells, and louder still, fell silent.

“HABEMUS PAPAM!!!” An explosion of jubilation. “We have a pope!!!!” The crowd could not be contained. What was once a wave was now a spa of uncontrollable excitement. Pure joy.

But who was he? Who was the new pope? What is his name???

“Josephum”—Josephum? The pope’s name is Joseph? Pope Joseph? That’s cool!—Father of the Church in the truest sense, I like that.

Wait, that’s not it.

“Josephum…. Cardinal… Ratzinger.”

CARDINAL RATZINGER!!!! Again, years of vocabulary in high school left me: “AAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!! IT’S RATZINGER!!!!! OH MY GOSH!!!! YEEEEEEEEEEEEAH!”

Now just before this, I had said to all of my friends as we awaited the announcement that I (and I quote) “have a feeling it’s Ratzinger.” “No, no” they replied, “it can’t be him. He’s too old.” But I just knew it.

But my excitement didn’t come from knowing it was him and that I was right. Rather, it came from the very fact that our new pope WAS him. Ratzinger is so amazing and so wonderfully chosen. We all hugged again and again rambled aimlessly “I can’t believe it’s Ratzinger.”

His name was announced—Benedict XVI—which we confused for Benedict the Sixth, at first, since we are ignorant Americans who don’t know anything else but English (and that we don’t know too good).

(Grammatical mistake intended).

(Can that be called a “grammatical pun”? Haha).

And then Benedict XVI comes out!!!

So, Benedict XVI gave us his blessing—the first of his pontificate. And that was amazing. How blessed I was—to get his first blessing AND one of John Paul’s last blessing (his last Easter blessing).

Anyway, back to the story. After the name was announced, the Papal Banner was brought out and all of the Cardinals filed onto the balconies of St. Peter's Basilica.

"We support our man," they seemed to say.

How awesome it is to see a man get a new name, too. From now on, Joseph Ratzinger will be Benedict XVI. Forever. Just like Simon who became Peter. Mary who became “Immaculate Conception.” And like all of us who, when we enter into heaven and are glorified, will receive a heavenly name: God makes all things new. I saw it happen right before my very eyes!

After the blessing, the group of us just stood by our barricade which we stood by from the time when we moved from the fountain. And we just stood there and soaked the history being written around us, the crowd of people staying with us (NO ONE, and I mean NO ONE, left). For about an hour, we just stood there, talking occasionally, staring at St. Peter’s once in a while, all the time enjoying the weight of the events which just took place. We have a pope.

(And we are very blessed).

Eventually, we made our way past the fountain—and wouldn’t you know it! We saw Jamie. She had a friend and fellow cameraman with her named Steve. And, as we were “their” subjects (and they, our paparazzi), we were interviewed once more.

The long interview ended as Jamie got a telephone call. Now, God works in mysterious ways…. But, sometimes, he is really rather blunt.

At the exact moment when Jamie got her call, my friend Steve (not the cameraman) got his. An Italian girl came up to him and saw the guitar he was carrying and asked him if he would play a song for her church group.

That’s what we thought she said.

We brought the guitar to her group in the middle of St. Peter’s Square where she took the guitar, handed it over to one of her friends in the group, and they began to play. Steve, kind of confused at this point, let it go and let them play. And did they ever play!

The group sung a marvelous song of thanksgiving for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit who guided the Cardinals’ selection of a pope. After the song was done, Steve got his guitar back.

For a minute.

He was then asked by another guy who wanted to use his guitar. Steve let him use the guitar, thinking it was going to be a short song—one of those “let me see your guitar for a second” sort of deals. Well, the guy started playing a Spanish/Italian mix of a song. And this brought both groups of people together in the center of the Square.

Soon, a circle of people started dancing. 10 people dancing grew to 20, then 30. Soon, I found myself in this circle, along with Lisa and Janet. 30 became 50 and then 150. A huge crowd began to amass around the circle. The song became loud enough where the media heard—they flocked to see the “Youth Celebrate their New Papa.” Jamie, our personal paparazzi, had camera rolling. So did the BBC, as Lisa was on world-wide news.
As more people joined us and sang, more flags were waved. “Truly, the Church is universal,” Lisa said. Indeed it is. An hour after Steve’s guitar was “borrowed,” we began to face the dilemma of getting it back. I joked with him about how he was going to cause an international disturbance if he tried to get it back; and how he might be the first to be excommunicated under Benedict XVI if he asked for his guitar.

The crowd did eventually die down as another group began to sing. The guitar was no longer needed. Steve got it back and we all went to dinner. Jamie and Cameraman-Steve followed.

As we sang from the Vatican to the German restaurant, they filmed us.

As we stopped to talk with some priests, they filmed us.

As we gave a toast at the German restaurant, drinking beer and eating sauerkraut and bratwurst—perfect to celebrate a German pope—they filmed us.

We were again interviewed at dinner. And we had a few good laughs, a few good brews, and a few good brats.

Let everyone be interviewed!!!

As we left the German restaurant (and under our own power, thankyouverymuch—we were behaved and I did NOT drink that entire pitcher myself either!), and after we said goodnight to Jamie and Steve, I could not help but feel grateful. Here I was in Rome, during all of these incredible times. Here I was to experience history. Here I was to truly live through the succession of Peter. Here I was to witness and to testify that the Catholic faith is a living faith. Here I was, able to witness to this faith to whoever sees this interview footage—all six hours of it. Here I was, surrounded by great friends and great food. Here I was, going home at 1am to the Roman Forum.

Here I was—and here I am: super-abundantly blessed.

And it’s like that every day.