***UPDATE #1**Ā In tempo recordĀ (alle 19,07 orario italiano, 10:07AM PST)Ā ĆØ stato eletto il nuovo Papaā¦in piazza San Pietro sventolano bandiere di tutti i paesi del mondo mentre migliaia di fedeli aspettano lāannuncio del nome del nuovo Ponteficeā¦ / In record time the new Pope has been electedā¦ flags from everywhere wave in Piazza San Pietro as thousands of Catholics await the announcement of the name of the new Pope.
***UPDATE #2** [ore 21:15 orario italiano, 12:15PM PST] Ā Ć stato annunciato il nome del nuovo Pontefice (The name of the new Pontiff has been announced):Ā Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Arcivescovo di Buenos Aries, 76 anniĀ (Archbishop, 76 years old) . Nellāincarico di Papa si chiamerĆ Francesco (in his role as Pope his name will be Francesco).
ā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦.
Allora (So), yesterday the pope picking game got serious. The 117-member papal selection com
mittee, aka the College of Cardinals, went into lock-down mode, and theĀ conclave (from the Latin ācum claveā, meaning āwith keyā), as this meeting is known, began Tuesday afternoon, amidst stormy weather and much fanfare in piazza San Pietro in Rome.
The weather conditions are noteworthy, considering that the cupola di San Pietro (dome of St. Peterās) was struck by lightning shortly after the resignation of il Papa Benedetto XVI (Pope Benedict), stirring up mention of la profezia di Malachia (the Prophecy of Malachia) and of Nostradamus.
The cardinals will be chiusi a chiave (locked, or literally āclosed by keyā) in quarters sealed off from the rest of the world until they have selectedĀ the next head of the Roman Catholic Church.Ā They are unable to leave until they get the job done.
This practice dates back to 1274 after it had taken nearly three years (due mainly to political infighting between the cardinals) to choose the previous Pope. Next time around, these new restrictions ā along with eventually having their rations reduced to pane ed acqua (bread and water) and the roof literally being removed from their lodgings at Palazzo dei Papi di Viterbo (?!) ā they managed to get the job done in a little over a year. Since then, the conclave has proved an effective practice in encouraging expediency. [Hmmā¦Ā I think Iād like to see this method used to resolve governmental stalematesā¦]
So until the Cardinals have chosen, the outside world will know nothing, not even a peep.Ā And while itās true that Pope Benedict Emeritus recently opened a Twitter account while still in office, it will be of no use to check his tweets.Ā Heās on social media lock-down, just like the rest of the cardinals.
āPreparations at the site of the papal conclave included a high-tech scrubbing of the chapel for bugs and electronic monitoring equipment. Wi-Fi will be blocked throughout Vatican City, and cardinals with Twitter and Facebook accounts have been warned.ā (Per this news article)
Dunque (so, thererfore), weāll just have to wait for the smokeā¦ [Smoke signals are used to indicate the selection of a new Pope. Eligible cardinals conduct a secret ballot until one of them receives a vote of two-thirds plus one. The ballots are burned after each vote. Black smoke indicates a failed ballot; white smoke means a new Pope has been elected.]
To stay abreast of the action, check out the website IsThereWhiteSmoke.com, and also PopeAlert.com, where you can join the Fantasy Conclave League for a chance to win prizes and learn āPope factsā.Ā
To keep you entertai
ned nel frattempo (in the meantime), here are the predictions my students came up with for a few new eligible āfantasy candidatesā suggested to us following the previous blog post, āGot What It Takes to Be Pope?ā.Ā DJ came up with Kevin Spacey, John Cusack, and Hugh Grant; and Giada came up with Prince Harry.Ā Grazie belle signore (thanks, lovely ladies) for the fodder per le nostre fervide fantasie (for our fervid imaginations)!
Our predictions take the form of an answer to this question:
Che farebbe __(nome del candidato)__ se fosse il Papa? [What would __(name of candidate)__ do if he were Pope?]Ā
Answers are in Italian followed by the English version, and are in the conditional tense (in this post, the verbs ending in -ebbe and -ebbero).
il Principe Harry.Ā Se il Principe Harry fosse il Papaā¦ insegnerebbe ai sacerdoti locali di giocare a poloā¦ indosserebbe le scarpe militari invece delle scarpe rosseā¦ prenderebbe delle decisioni azzardateā¦ organizzerebbe unāassemblea annuale a Las Vegasā¦ e tutti si rilasserebbero nel idromassaggioā¦ i vestiti non sarebbero necessariā¦ permetterebbe ai cardinali di giocare a biliardo a spogliarelloā¦ vorrebbe far protegere il Vaticano dallāesercito inglese invece che dalla Guardia Svizzeraā¦ sposterebbe il Vaticano in Inghilterra e cambierebbe la Cattedrale di Westminster in una chiesa Cattolicaā¦ e poi il Parlamento Inglese gli sottrarrebbe il titolo di principe!
If Prince Harry were Popeā¦ he would teach the local priests to play poloā¦ he would wear military boots instead of the red shoesā¦ he would make reckless decisionsā¦ he would organize an annual assembly in Las Vegasā¦and everyone would relax in the hot tubā¦ clothing would be optionalā¦ he wouldĀ permit the cardinals to play strip pool/billiardsā¦ he would have the Vatican protected by the English army instead of the Swiss Guardā¦ he would move the Vatican to England, and heād change the Westminster Abbey into a Catholic churchā¦ and then, the English Parliament would revoke his title of prince!
Kevin Spacey.Ā Se Kevin Spacey fosse il Papaā¦ permetterebbe alle monache di essere attriciā¦ costruirebbe un enorme teatro personale nel Vaticanoā¦ girerebbe un film a Roma intitolato āGli insoliti sospettiā sui preti che abusano dei bambiniā¦Ā sarebbe il primo Papa a vincere un Oscar mentre occupa questāufficio.
If Kevin Spacey were Popeā¦ he would allow nuns to be actressesā¦ he would build an enormous home theater in the Vaticanā¦ he would shoot a film in Rome entitled,Ā āThe Unusual Suspects,ā about priests who abuse childrenā¦ he would be the first Pope to win an Oscar while in office.
Hugh Grant.Ā Se Hugh Grant fosse il Papaā¦ cancellerebbe il requisito di celibato per i sacerdoti ā¦ permetterebbe alle donne di entrare in Vaticano perchĆ© gli piaccionoā¦ e permetterebbe alle suore di indossare qualunque cosa che loro vorrebbero, specialmente le gonne corteā¦ assumerebbe una bella donna come segretaria personaleā¦ permetterebbe ai preti di officiare solamente in āQuattro matrimoni e un funeraleā.
If Hugh Grant were Popeā¦ he would eliminate the requirement of celibacy for priestsā¦ he would permit women to enter the Vatican because he likes themā¦ and he would permit nuns to wear anything they want, especially short skirtsā¦ he would hire a beautiful woman as his personal secretaryā¦ he would allow priests to officiate only āFour Weddings and a Funeralā.
John Cusak.Ā Se John Cusak fosse il Papaā¦Ā farebbe costruire uno studio di kickboxing nel Vaticano e si allenerebbe ogni seraā¦ farebbe gli scherzi ai cardinali ogni volta che gli incontrasseā¦Ā farebbe girare un film nel Vaticanoā¦ e poi direbbe āSono troppo giovane per essere celibe!āā¦ e anchĆ© lui si dimetterebbe, dopo solamente un mese in ufficioā¦. abiterebbe a Roma per pochi mesi ancoraā¦ poi tornerebbe alla sua vita da star amato negli Stati Uniti.
If John Cusak were Popeā¦ he would have a kickboxing studio built in the Vatican and he would train every eveningā¦ he would play jokes on the cardinals every time he ran into themā¦ he would shoot a film in the Vaticanā¦ and then he would say āIām too young to be celibate!āā¦ and he, too, would resign ā after only one month in officeā¦ he would reside in Rome for a few months moreā¦ and then he would return to his life as a well-loved star in the United States.
Whom would you like to see chosen as Pope?Ā Got any other predictions for our fantasy candidates? Leave your comments below!
Ā
I love how it looks like gli anatroccoli (the ducklings) are riding nella macchina (in the car)!
Il torrone ed i conigli bianchi. / Torrone (nougat candy, bottom l. & r.) and white rabbits.
I cestini, gli anatroccoli, le galline, e gli agnelli in una vetrina colorata. / Baskets, ducklings, hens, and lambs in a colorful window.
Un gigante coniglio dorato. ChissĆ se fa le uova dorate? / A giant golden rabbit. Wonder if he lays golden eggs?
