Jeanie Hannaman

By Christopher R. Altieri, Catholic World Report - Coup de théâtre, as the French say, or colpo di scena in Italian, is an unexpected turn in a play or a film, often applied to real life when surprising developments unfold suddenly and to dramatic effect, making life imitate art... With the eyes of the whole world on Rome this week and the worldwide body of Catholic faithful waiting on tenterhooks for white smoke, I thought I’d sketch out three highly unlikely scenarios that would be good for some coup de théâtre. ...

By Ngala Killian Chimtom, Crux, (Complicit Clergy) - While Francis’s legacy as a promoter of peace and justice, a warrior for environmental stewardship, and a crusader for an inclusive Church certainly resonates with clerics across Africa, many balk at defining the kind of pontiff who should be elected when the conclave begins meeting on May 7, except by noting that the new Pope should be like Christ himself... “I don’t want a Pope like Francis,” Mbarga told Crux... “I want a Pope who thinks and acts like Christ, and we pray that God gives us a good pope – a pope who can help us to go in heaven,” he said.

Fr. Nnamdi Moneme, OMV, Catholic Exchange - The risen Christ met His disciples behind locked doors, when they were afraid and terrified: “On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst” (Jn. 20:19-31). And what did Jesus do then?... He did not try to drive the Jews away and prevent His disciples from any imminent harm. Neither did He ask His disciples to double-lock the doors for their safety. On the contrary, He offered them inner peace—that which He had won for them by His passion, death, and resurrection. “Peace be with you,” Jesus said.

By Janet E. Smith, Crisis Magazine - Many who have written on the needed characteristics of the next pope have said such things as “The next pope needs to call the bishops to proclaim the faith boldly; to restore respect for the sacraments; to unify the polarized elements of the Church.” Few pundits note that purging the Church of the Lavender Mafia, of the homosexual priests and bishops who run the Church, is arguably the most important and the most difficult of all tasks a new pope will face.