Habemus Papam! ("We have a Pope!")

If you had told me ten years ago that I'd be living in Rome in 2013, I'd be surprised, but probably not completely incredulous.  I love travel, fancy myself as somewhat adventurous, and have always wanted to spend some time living abroad.  Despite, this, though, if you had told me that I'd someday be in St. Peter's square for the announcement of a new Pope, I'd never believe you.  I  mean, there have only been three popes in the last thirty five years.  What are the chances?  

Holy Smokes, It's White! (photo from National Geographic)

But we were here!  And it was amazing.  So amazing, in fact, that I wasn't able to wind down and go to sleep until about 2 AM. Here's how it all went down:   

Around 7 PM (after the fourth and final vote of the day), Tom saw white smoke coming out of the chimney on the roof of the Sistine Chapel.  Well, more accurately, he watched it happening live online, got super excited, called me (from his office), and then sent an email out (in Latin, of course) to everyone at the Academy.  He then raced back to our room, where we grabbed our raincoats and umbrellas, and less than five minutes after the smoke appeared, we found ourselves speed-walking with two of our friends down to Saint Peter's Square.  

The Square is only about a 20-25 minute walk from the Academy if you know the "secret way," which involves following the narrow road that runs along the Aurelian Wall.  It was already dark out and sprinkling a bit, but the walk went fast, and we spent the time guessing who the new Pope would be and what name he'd take.  (For the record, none of us guessed correctly.)  Even though we were walking about as fast as we could, we still were passed by several people who were literally running down to the Square in hopes of making it in time to get a good spot and see the new Pope.  

Areal Shot of St. Peter's Square (this photo is a photo of the video screen)

As our friend, Lauren, noted, though, it was very much a "hurry up and wait" sort of situation, because once we got down to the Vatican, not much was actually happening yet.  Still, it was really amazing to just to be in St. Peter's Square for such a momentous occasion.  It took us several minutes to get in (since guards had our normal entrance blocked off), but once we made our way through, it was actually less crowded than we were anticipating.  The rain also had stopped, so we found ourselves a nice spot in the middle of the Square with a view of the Basilica and one of the giant video screens.  We took a few pictures, and then the waiting began.  

The atmosphere was a strange one-  sort of a mix between solemn reflection and pure celebration (the celebration part being almost like how people react after their home team wins the World Series or the Superbowl).  People were smiling, and shouting and laughing, and others were quietly praying.  It was also crazy to see so many cameras.  Anywhere you looked, there literally hundreds of flashes going off at any given moment.  I wasn't lucky enough to attend Obama's first inauguration myself, but our friends who had been there likened this experience to that one.    

Waiting for the Pope!

I have to say that it seemed like that the Vatican unnecessarily drew out the process, but that's probably just because I was excited.  I suppose that an hour isn't actually that much time for the newly elected Pope to choose a name, think about what he'll say to the crowd, and get dressed. (Apparently, once a conclave starts the Vatican commissions new Papal garments in sizes S/M/L and also keeps various sizes of red shoes on hand so the new Pope will have something to wear, whatever his stature.)  Of course, I like to imagine that the new Pope might also need a few minutes to do some positive affirmations in the mirror (you know, to pump himself up by saying things like "You're the freaking Pope!  You're charming and smart and God's right hand man!  You've got this!") before addressing millions of people around the world.  And then, finally, he and the rest of the Cardinals have to make their way up to the second floor of the Basilica.    

The Crowd Waits (with cameras in hand)

About ten minutes in, we saw the lights come on on that second floor, and the crowd went wild, but it was a false alarm, because no one appeared on the balcony at that point.  After another ten minutes or so, though, the Cardinal Protodeacon came out and announced "Habemus Papam" (a latin phrase, which means "we have a Pope") to the crowd, and they hung the official cloth from the balcony on which the Pope would soon appear.  Everyone went absolutely wild.  The Cardinal also announced the new Pope's birth name (Jorge Mario Bergoglio), as well as his new chosen name (Francesco), and then retreated back into the Basilica.   

At this point, a wave of confusion spread over the crowd.  Everyone was saying, "who?" and  "from where?" and looking to the strangers around them to provide answers.  Since the media had never identified Bergoglio as a front runner, very few people had any idea of who he was.  Luckily, though, since we live in a modern age, almost everyone around us had smart phones, and so we were able to quickly learn that Francesco hailed from Argentina.  If any of the Italians in the crowd were bitter about this, they certainly didn't show it, although it may have helped that Francesco's parents were both Italian (so that many Italians can still consider Francesco a native).  

Habemus Papam!

Finally, after a lot more waiting, around 8:30 the newly elected Pope made his way onto the Balcony.  This time, people went absolutely nuts, and started chanting Fran-ces-co, Fran-ces-co over and over! Once he started speaking, though, a hush fell over the crowd.  His address was very brief.  He basically greeted the crowd, stated (a bit oddly, in the third person), that he was the new Pope, said a prayer for Benedict XVI, and then talked about a "road of brotherhood" going forward in the Church.  Finally, he blessed everyone.  The whole thing was probably only about five minutes long, but, since his Italian accent is quite a bit better than Benedict's, we were actually able to understand bits and pieces of it!    

Franceso!  (photo of video screen)

Once it was over, we high-tailed it out of there, for fear of getting "stuck" for hours in the crowd.  On our walk home, we were passed by a few cars, who would honk and shout things like "Francesco!" or "Viva il Papa" from their windows.  I think there is a lot of hope and excitement that the new Pope can lead the Church in a more positive direction following all of the recent scandals, so it will be interesting to see how that plays out.  

Perhaps due to divine providence, our dinner at the Academy had been moved from its normal 8:00 time to 9:00 (to accommodate an art show), so we were even able to make it back in time to eat, and swap stories with the other fellows.    

Like I mentioned previously, it took me a long time to wind down from the experience.  That might sound silly, since I'm not Catholic (and since I also actually strongly disagree with many of the Church's official views and policies), but it was really one of those times where it seemed much better and more appropriate to let myself get excited about others' excitement and the historic nature of the event rather than taking a cynical or political view of it all.  And, actually, I'm sure that someday when I'm an old lady I'll still be telling the story of how I once saw the announcement of a new Pope (you know, while drinking lemonade in a rocking chair on my front porch- somehow with a southern accent).

Alla Prossima,

Erin 

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Thus. March 14:  Yesterday was a rainy and smoky day in the Vatican:  first black smoke (around 11:40 AM), then white smoke (at 7 PM).