The Record, Author at The Record

Speculation, suspense: Italian media rife with papal predictions

Online betting and trending sites were not the only outlets posting their papal predictions. Italian newspapers are historically the boldest and most confident in their daily speculations and conclave scenarios.

Cardinals from around the world enter the Vatican's Sistine Chapel on March 12 as they begin the conclave to elect a successor to Pope Benedict XVI. PHOTO: CNS/L'Osservatore Romano via Reuters

More black smoke on morning of conclave’s first full day

More black smoke poured from the chimney on the roof of the Sistine Chapel at 11:40 a.m. March 13, which seemed to indicate the 115 cardinal electors failed to elect a pope on their second and third ballots.

Black smoke billows from the chimney on the Sistine Chapel in the morning of March 13 in this still image taken from video. PHOTO: CNS/Reuters

Pope Francis I: Cardinals elect Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires as new pope on fifth ballot

Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires will be the 266th successor of St Peter and take the name Pope Francis I.

How the balloting is scheduled to work

Here is the announced conclave schedule. Times listed are for Rome, with Eastern Daylight Time in parentheses …

St. Peter's Basilica is reflected in a puddle near the Vatican on March 11 as the world's cardinals will begin their conclave inside the Vatican's Sistine Chapel on March 12 to elect a new pope. PHOTO: CNS/Paul Hanna, Reuters

Preoccupation with pope’s personality can be unhealthy, historian says

Jesuit Father Norman Tanner, dean of church history at Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University, told reporters March 11 that the papal candidates from all over the world reveal the globalization of the church while the “preoccupation with the personality of popes” can often be unhealthy in choosing a new pontiff.

Jesuit Father Norman Tanner, dean of church history at the Pontifical Gregorian University, is pictured on Sept. 11 2012 at the university in Rome. PHOTO: CNS/Paul Haring

Quid est in nomine? Latin name is first clue to new pope’s identity

The first clue to the identity of the new pope will be the announcement of his first name — in Latin, in the accusative case … below this article is an alphabetical list of the cardinal electors’ first names in Latin, in the accusative case, which you can follow when its the announcement of the name of the new pope.

Workers prepare the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican on March 11, where the newly elected pope will greet the world for the first time from the balcony. PHOTO: CNS/Paul Haring

In digital age, Vatican sticks with smoke, bells to announce results

Though the Vatican has become increasingly savvy with more modern forms of communication, it’s still sticking with more primitive methods — swirling smoke and tolling bells — to announce whether a new pope has been elected.

Members of the fire and rescue service set a chimney on the roof of the Sistine Chapel before the conclave on March 9 at the Vatican. Smoke coming from the chimney will be the only sign to the world of how things are progressing inside the chapel during the conclave. PHOTO: CNS/L'Osservatore Romano via Reuters

Turkey’s Muslims differ on interfaith dialogue, next Catholic pope

Istanbul’s grandiose Sultan Ahmet Mosque, or the Blue Mosque, was only one of the places former Pope Benedict XVI visited while in Turkey nearly seven years ago, but it is the stop that many practicing Muslims remember most, said Etyemez, who was living and studying in Los Angeles at the time.

Pope Benedict XVI and Mustafa Cagrici, the grand mufti of Istanbul, pray in the Blue Mosque in 2006 in Istanbul. PHOTO: CNS/Patrick Hertzog, Pool via Reuters

Venezuelan president changed nation, had rocky relations with bishops

Hugo Chavez, a socialist president who transformed Venezuela while acting as chief protagonist in what was one of the worst Catholic Church-government relationships in Latin America, died March 5. He was 58.