Pope Smoke Boogie

I'll bet they're playing Jenga. Or maybe filling out 'Mad Libs'. Or ordering Rome's best pizza and having a Hong Kong action movie marathon. I'll bet JPII wrote a name down before he passed away, and they're dragging it out to make the enclave seem plausible.

In any event, I'm glad they didn't decide in one day. Especially here in America, lately, we expect our elections to be long and arduous, and preferably filled with all sorts of acrimony and false accusations. Given the weighty issues at stake (the future of Catholicism in the modern world, no less!) - it's entertaining to imagine Cardinal Dias of India holding Cardinal Danneels from Netherlands in a headlock, glasses askew, black robes fluttering everywhere, and cries of "break it up" -- while the Michelangelo-painted figures of the Sistine Chapel look on, aghast.

On a more serious note, in an (unlinkable) article in the WSJ today a commentator pointed out that the wants and needs of the 'liberal' side of the Catholic Church are unlikely to gain any traction in the new papacy. Half the church is third world, and decidedly conservative on many theological issues. Globalization, economic justice - yes. But don't expect liberalization on issues like contraception or lady priests.

As to the overall notion of a pope from the third world - and at the risk of sounding rarely and overtly religious - the Christ I know is decidedly and unequivocally on the side of the poor. Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers ...

UPDATE: Get pope news in realtime with MSNBC's Smoke Cam.