I was at the church working on some handouts and had just been emailed a website that was a webcam pointed at the smokestack of the Sistine Chapel. So, I turned it on and nothing was going on, but I left it open and continued working.
A few minutes later, I looked at the site and this time saw something going on.
I went over to the TV room (which had EWTN) and something was going on. However, nobody was quite sure if it was really white smoke or not. Apparently in the past there has been some confusion on the smoke colors, so people were a bit hesitant to say something was going. However, as they showed the piazza in front of Saint Peters, you could see more and more people were congregating in the piazza. Every channel was covering it. Something was going on.
At this point I notified Father that something was going on. By the time he got to the TV room, the bells of Saint Peters had begun to ring. According to a friend who was there, at this point people began pouring into the piazza and surrounding streets.
It seemed to take quite a while for any activity to be noticed. However, FINALLY, a cardinal came out onto the upper balcony. Looking at what he read, it isn't very long, but at that time, it was like an eternity. Talk about the excitement and tension. It was like the entire world was on the edge of its seat.
Here's the "transcript" of my thoughts through what seemed like an eternity of anticipation.
Cardinal announcing: "Fratelli e suorelli carissimi ..."
Me: OK, Italian greeting to the faithful
"Carissimos hermanos y hermanas ..."
Spanish? I think. Oh no, is he going to go through every language?!
"Ches frères et soeurs ..."
French! He is ...
"[something I didn't understand]"
NOOOO! languages I don't recognize! This could take forever!
EDIT - Turns out it was German ("Liebe Brüder und Schwestern")
"Dear brothers and sisters ..."
Hey! English!
"Annuncio vobis, gaudium magnum ..."
Hey, Latin! ... THEY'RE ANNOUNCING IT!
"Habemus papam ..."
Yes, we pretty much figured that, get on with it!
"Eminentissimum ac Reverendissimum Dominum,"
OK, it's a cardinal, figured that ...
"Dominum Josephum..."
Josephum, Josephum ... Joseph! ... JOSEPH! Ratzinger is named Joseph, but how many other cardinals are named Joseph?!
"Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae Cardinalem"
Aaargh! We know the title of a cardinal, get on with it!
"Ratzinger!"
Oh my gosh! I don't believe it! RATZINGER IS THE NEW POPE! YES!!!!!!
And look, the crowd is thrilled, the people are loving it!
[At this point I am jumping up and down cheering along with Father]
"qui sibi nomen imposuit ..."
Oooh, his name, what will his new name be?
"... Benedictum XVI"
Benedict! How cool! How classic!
Here's the clip of what seemed like an eternity.
EDIT - Notice how much Latin there is, but for some crazy reason, people understand it!
Then the the new pope came onto the balcony. It was great!
He looks like a natural.
Wow! This is amazing! Deo gratias!
We had a Mass of thanksgiving a bit later since we had the Mass scheduled in the afternoon anyway. It was great to hear "una cum famulo tuo Papa nostro BENEDICTO."
Wow, what a great day!
Happy Anniversary, Pope Benedict!
VIVA IL PAPA!
Two years ago tomorrow was one of the worst days, which I almost didn't make it through. I think the devil was in a rage over the new pope and I got hit with the splashdamage of his wrath. More later.
RS
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