I am so excited! I had the live stream on as I was getting the kids ready to do their work (had a few kids who were interested and to keep them focused on the papers rather than flipping between the streaming video and their Word program, I told them I would keep half an eye on it and let them know when to pull up the live stream), and so I saw the white smoke. Since I let them watch live stream when one of their classmates was in on the ATERA Nationals, I figured this was historic - why not?
Plus, I was interested myself, or course.
I was amused by the sight of the bird perching on the chimney for the better part of the hour before the smoke went up. Here is this bird, completely unaware of the billions of people watching through tv/internet...and then the new Bishop of Rome appears and announces his name is Francis! How appropriate!
The spokesman for the Vatican says that Pope Francis has taken his name in honor of St. Francis Of Assisi. Among a great many other stories about St. Francis is the story of the birds who came to listen to his sermon. On the feast day of St. Francis, some churches will have blessings of pets. I taught at a Franciscan school and the children brought their pets on October 4 for the special blessing - it was a lovely day at the school. Although St. Francis isn't the patron saint of farmers, I always was fond of him.
On top of this, the new Pope is a Jesuit. I love the Jesuits - they are teachers, and I received an excellent education at a Jesuit university. I really have great hopes for this man. As archbishop in Buenos Aires, he moved out of the bishop's mansion into an apartment and took the bus rather than using a chauffeur - he even cooked for himself. I loved his speech, too - very humble and prayerful.
I hope all this Hope continues. The world needs some Hope right now.
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