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John L. Allen, Jr.

Reflections on covering one pope's funeral and another's election
Not a transitional pope: Benedict may surprise
The mill continues to grind, but rumors prove false
Hero of church's conservative wing becomes Pope Benedict XVI
The Vatican's enforcer: A profile of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger
The voting process has begun
Getting to know you; Cardinals with little connection to Rome have missed out on informal gatherings
Outline of a Ratzinger papacy
Papal negative campaigning and the role of the Holy Spirit
Handicapping the conclave; Push for Ratzinger is real
Two conclave preachers are open, ecumenical; Both stress simplicity, humility
Three cardinals emphasize collegiality; Ratzinger said to favor free speech before conclave
Law’s activities, positions illustrate “clash of cultures” between U.S. and Rome
Cardinals agree to go mum
An American pope is not likely
'How do you live Christ in today's secular culture?'
Secretary to three popes has vivid memories
John Paul II set high standards for successor
Analysis of John Paul II's reign

Joan Chittister, OSB
Adolescence or adulthood: which? 
And he shall be called . . .  
I missed the smoke; I got the idea
Never mind the papabile, consider the papacy
The underside of the issue
Antigone or Ismene: The new choice
Win a couple, lose a couple
When demonstrations are not demonstrations
The purpose of the interregnum
Be aware of Greeks bearing gifts
He was the grandfather of their soul
Poignant and paradoxical

Mary Ann Hinsdale, IHM
New pope should put collegiality at top of list

Rita Larivee, SSA (Photo Essay)

What did they come to see? Photo Essay

Stacy Meichtry
Benedict calls for more dialogue with other churches, religions
Benedict calls 'listening' his 'program of governance'
Benedict addresses the media
Appointments send a signal of continuity
U.S. cardinals tout a kinder, gentler Benedict XVI
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger elected Pope Benedict XVI
A whistle stop, cardinal style
Ratzinger in forceful call for conservative path
John Paul II gets mixed reviews from religious congregations
Germany's Kasper: No need for 'clone' of John Paul II
Catholic-Muslim relations focus of sermon; Lebanese cardinal wants dialogue, collaboration
Vatican II is latest topic; Curia officials weigh in on late pope's commitment to council reforms
Little specific about cardinals' talks; Some said to petition for John Paul's sainthood
Vatican: ‘It’s forgiveness.’ Victims: ‘It’s more pain.’
Law appearance draws protesters from U.S.
Focus is on John Paul, not succession, during mourning period
Cardinals don't want Africans in high positions
Millions say last farewells to John Paul II
Collegiality, better communication cited as concerns entering the conclave
A blueprint for the future papacy
Endless crowds wait hours to view body of John Paul II
World religious and political leaders weigh in on legacy of John Paul II
Mourners flood St. Peter’s Square; ‘Italy weeps for a father’

Tom Roberts
There are no women
Conclaves were once raucous and long
The next bold initiative: to listen
 

Habemus papam: We have a pope
National Catholic Reporter has a team, led by Rome Correspondent John L. Allen Jr., covering the election of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as Pope Benedict XVI. Bookmark this page and check the NCR Web site for daily updates of news and analysis.

Day Twenty-five, April 26, 2005
The Word From Rome: Reflections on covering one pope's funeral and another's election
By John L. Allen, Jr., Rome

I wanted to share some quick, initial impressions of the momentous days we all have just experienced. These thoughts, coming hot on the heels of the events themselves, are scattered and perhaps not especially profound, but perhaps worth recording. Read the full story

Day Twenty-four, April 25, 2005
Benedict calls for increased dialogue with other churches, religions
By Stacy Meichtry, Rome

Pope Benedict XVI drew a mixed reaction from Muslim and ecumenical leaders Monday after delivering an address that renewed his call for increased dialogue and "bridge building" between faiths. Read the full story

Day Twenty-three, April 24, 2005
Benedict calls 'listening' his 'program of governance'
By Stacy Meichtry, Rome

In a ceremony colored by centuries-old pageantry, Pope Benedict XVI officially took the reins of the Roman Catholic church Sunday, receiving the symbols of his authority with a call for unity with other faiths and a pledge to govern the church through cooperation rather than papal mandate. Read the full story

Day Twenty-two, April 23, 2005
Benedict addresses the media
By Stacy Meichtry, Rome

Media reports have called him ruthless. Cardinals have called him shy. Pope Benedict XVI went before an auditorium packed with reporters Saturday to speak for himself. Read the full story

Day Twenty-one, April 22, 2005
Adolescence or adulthood: which?
By Joan Chittister, OSB, Rome

Rome is quiet this week. Not silent, just quiet. There is no sense of great joy -- I was in Rome once when the country won the World Soccer Championship and, trust me, this is not the same -- but there is no panic either. Thoughtful, I think you'd call it. Even the press has settled down a bit. The sense of the frantic, the urgent, the breathless has dropped a decibel or so. Read the full story

Not a transitional pope: Benedict may surprise
By John L. Allen, Jr., Rome

The election of Joseph Ratzinger April 19 was a vote for continuity with the papacy of John Paul II, but also a choice for a man who will translate the guiding lines of the Wojtyla pontificate into institutional reality. Read the full story

The mill continues to grind, but rumors prove false
By John L. Allen, Jr., Rome

Reports that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the office until recently headed by Pope Benedict XVI, is preparing to issue four new documents, including one approving Communion for divorced and civilly remarried Catholics, are "absolutely false," according to senior Vatican sources. Read the full story

Day Twenty, April 21, 2005
Appointments send a signal of continuity
By Stacy Meichtry, Rome

In a clear sign of continuity with John Paul lI, pope Benedict XVI appointed three of the Roman Curia’s top officials Thursday to the posts they had held under his predecessor. Benedict re-assigned Cardinal Angelo Sodano, 77, to the post of Secretary of State, the Holy See’s prime minister, after 14 years of service under John Paul. The nomination came despite the fact that Sodano is two years past 75, the standard age of retirement for curial cardinals. Read the full story

Day Nineteen, April 20, 2005
And he shall be called . . .  
By Joan Chittister, OSB

We’ve been living in an ecclesiastical tsunami this week. The election of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger to the position of Pope Benedict XVI has had all the force of a universal avalanche.  The questions never end. Journalists are rushing from source to source trying to determine the future of a church led by a theologian considered by many to be both doctrinaire and dogmatic. The apparent answers to their questions leave many in more darkness than light, in search of some kind of spiritual security that their church still includes them, too. Read the full story

U.S. cardinals tout a kinder, gentler Benedict XVI
By Stacy Meichtry

Pope Benedict XVI struck a conciliatory tone in his first Mass Thursday, promising to reach out to other faiths and Christian denominations as his cardinals urged the public not to judge the new pope based on “caricatures” of the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.  In a message delivered to cardinals in the Sistine Chapel, Benedict pledged to do “everything in (my) power to promote the fundamental cause of ecumenism.” Read the full story

Day Eighteen, April 19, 2005
Hero of church's conservative wing becomes Pope Benedict XVI
By John L. Allen Jr.

In electing the 265th pope of the Roman Catholic Church, the  College of Cardinals made a daring choice for a man who, despite his 78 years of ago, seems destined to lead a strong, consequential pontificate: Joseph Ratzinger, the intellectual architect of John Paul II’s papacy as the prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Ratzinger is that rare individual among Vatican officials, a celebrity among men who normally move in the shadows. He had a run-away bestseller in 1986 with The Ratzinger Report, a book-length interview with Italian journalist Vittorio Messori. He is probably the lone official of the Roman Curia that most Catholics could actually identify, and a man about whom many of them hold strong opinions. Read the full story

The Vatican's enforcer: A profile of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger
By John L. Allen Jr.

Cardinal Joseph Alois Ratzinger was born in rural Bavaria on April 16, 1927. Perhaps it is fate that the day was Holy Saturday and his parents were Joseph and Mary -- eerie foreshadowing for a child who would grow up to become a stark sign of contradiction in the world's largest Christian church.  Read the full story

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger elected Pope Benedict XVI
By Stacy Meichtry, Rome

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected pope of the Roman Catholic Church Tuesday after one of the briefest conclaves in modern history, suggesting the church will begin the third millenium with a  strong embrace of strict doctrine. The best known cardinal in the world for his decades of service to John Paul II as his top theological advisor and for his pre-conclave prominence as dean of the College of Cardinals, Ratzinger took the name of Benedict XVI. Benedict XV was the pope that presided over the church during World War I and is best known for his 1914 ecyclical Ad Beatissimi Apostolorum, which called a halt to infighting in the church.  Read the full story

I missed the smoke; I got the idea
By Joan Chittister, OSB, Rome

At about 8:00 Monday night, black smoke curled out of the chimney erected on the top of the Sistine Chapel. I didn’t see it. No one was surprised by anything about it except that it came so late in the day. After all, a Roman supper starts at least by 8:00 p.m. For the cardinals to still be meeting beyond that time, in other words, signaled a clear sign of commitment. These cardinals were clearly not idling into this process. This was serious voting. They were getting on with the process of finding a new direction for the church that was outside the normal rhythm of things. And well they might. Read the full story




 
Quick links
Analysis of John Paul II's reign (Obituary)
Steps to electing a pope
How a pope is elected
Who will be the next pope?

Cardinal J. Ratzinger: From the window of the father's house (homily at funeral)
Arthur Jones: Theologians see downside to JPII's papacy
Arthur Jones: 'No time for glorifying and exalting': Two perspectives

Background & Analysis

Analysis of John Paul II's reign
  At times both daring and defensive, inspiring and insular, John Paul II, 263rd successor of St. Peter, leaves behind the great irony of a world more united because of his life and legacy, and a church more divided.
   This is perhaps the best first draft of history one can offer about a man who towered over the times in a way few other leaders of his era did.
Read the full analysis.

Steps to electing a pope
    Following the pope's death, the procedures for electing a successor are set by the 1996 document Universi Dominici Gregis. There must be no fewer than 15 days, and no more than 20, from the death of the pope until the beginning of the conclave, which is the gathering of cardinals behind closed doors to elect his successor. This period is called the interregnum, or the period between reigns.
    Read: A timeline for the transition Updated April 4, 1:01 p.m.

How a pope is elected
    When it comes to electing a pope, there are no Iowa caucuses, no candidate debates, no conventions or platforms. The "campaign" is more analogous to the 2003 California gubernatorial recall than a presidential primary -- a quick sprint that flares up unexpectedly and is over before it even seems to begin.
    Read: The art of subtle 'electioneering'

Who will be the next pope?
    Will the next pope be one of these 20 men? Perhaps. But all are certainly under consideration, and that by itself makes them worth a look.
    Read: The top candidates.

Other Voices
Expert opinions on what the world wants and needs from the next pope

New pope should put collegiality at top of list
By Mary Ann Hinsdale, IHM, Boston
     I don’t necessarily subscribe to the folklore surrounding papal conclaves that says a thin pope is followed by a fat pope, and the like, but I actually am hoping for a “weaker” pope.  John Paul II was a strong pope.  He will be remembered for having a strong moral compass and a firm, even mystical, sense of his own, divinely ordained mission to lead the church.  However, the last twenty-seven years have seen  a growing centralization within the Roman Catholic church that has practically reversed the great gains made at the Second Vatican Council. Read the full story

'No time for glorifying and exalting': Two perspectives
By Arthur Jones
    "This church will survive as a whole only if it has the vision and the strength to become a discipleship of equals," says theologian Maria Pilar Aquino in an interview with NCR's Arthur Jones. Meanwhile, ethicist Christine Gudorf tells Jones that today's issues are "tough, and the church doesn't recognize it."

    Read: Two perspectives Added April 14, 1:58 p.m.

Theologians see, experience downside to John Paul II’s papacy
By Arthur Jones
    A pontificate has ended. The tributes and adulation flow in. And yet, for some observers, U.S. Catholic theologians among them, the pontificate of Pope John Paul II is assessed in heartfelt, if saddened, criticism.

    Read: Theologians and the pope

Watch this space for postings from experts on ecclesiology, theology, culture and ecumenism about the challenges ahead for the next pope.

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