Habemus Papam

After four ballots the crowds in St. Peter's Square glimpsed inconclusive hued greyish smoke emerge from the stove pipe in the Sistine Chapel. The confusion was clarified a few moments later when the bell began to ring! Jorge Arturo Augustin Cardinal Medina Esteves came out onto the Balcony greeted the crowd, very kindly in four languages, and then declaimed:

Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum;
habemus Papam:

Eminentissimum ac Reverendissimum Dominum,
Dominum Josephum
Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae Cardinalem Ratzinger
qui sibi nomen imposuit Benedictum XVI

Luckilly it was all over in just a few minutes. Benedict appeared on the balcony. Greeted the crowds. Imparted his blessing, on the City and on the World. Waved. And went back inside for a light lunch with the Prince Bishops of the Church.

One way or another he is God's gift to the Church. As a man and a pastor he will have his successes and his failures, all of them his and ours. Eventually, he will be loved.

For now, we should pray for him and hope for the best!