We have a new Pope.

Chicago got a pope before they got a 4000 yard passer.

Chicago is so pizza there are actually two 'Chicago style' pizzas. One for those that can handle deep dish, and one for those that can't. Perhaps this Pope was chosen to heal the great pizza divide.

I don't really care what you call the deep dish though, I just call it delicious.

He's on a mission from God.

In reply to Appleseed :

Meme that!

In reply to Driven5 :

There are 2-3 out there. 
 

Driven5 said:

In reply to Appleseed :

Meme that!

Datsun240ZGuy said:

Some guy did a timeline on the length of days from year 1200 until now - once it took 1006 days to pick a new Pope.

The last century it's never been more than a week. IIRC the whole secret conclave rule came about because of the three year election, which had a bunch of kings and emperors putting their oar in it.

Still did not expect a US born Pope.

I was looking at news photos, and it occurred to me that the railing on the balcony at the Vatican is pretty low.  I was comparing it in my mind to that fellow who fell out of the stands at the Pittsburgh baseball game the other day, hopefully the new pope doesn't get excited and jump up and down.   

02Pilot said:

Mr_Asa said:

aircooled said:

Doh!  I wanted that Pizzaballa guy to win!!

Think of the Promos at Dominoes!!!

I mean, he is a Chicago boy.  Could still be pizza promos.

What they call pizza in Chicago is not pizza.

Amen 

Saw an interview with his brother and it made my brain twisty and weird.

The Pope has probably been to Walmart. 

That's.... weird for some reason

In reply to Datsun240ZGuy :

Apparently he is actually a White Sox fan....  one of those lost causes things I guess....

Chicago Pope is making for some great content, but just allow yourself a moment to imagine what we could have had with a Boston Pope

I'm seeing mixed info online about his Jazz Trombone skills and playing at festivals in the 70s and 80s. 

In reply to JG Pasterjak :

As a lifelong Bostonian (well, a suburbanite Bostonian) who was brought up in the Catholic church, I'm kinda glad the new pope isn't from here. 

For reasons. 

Put it this way: my home church harbored three prominent priests that were convicted of doing very bad things. One of them presided over my first communion. And the cardinals tried their best to cover it all up like it never happened. It turns my stomach when I think about it.  

This guy, on the other hand, seems like a good dude, much like Francis was. Let Chicago win this one. 

Memes aside, it's interesting how invested the secular world is in this. As a born-again feral agnostic, bordering on atheist, a new pope seems about as relevant ro my life as a new flavor of lip balm. And yet secular media is on this as rabidly as anything else they cover. It makes me wonder why it evidently matters so much to so many people outside the Catholic faith, or outside of Christianity in general.

In reply to DarkMonohue :

This drives home to me how interconnected the world is at this point. I have no personal philosophical or spiritual reason to care who the pope is. But everybody on Earth is affected by the influence the church wields, so we are all directly impacted.

It is my hope that on a long enough time scale, we are coming to appreciate how interconnected we all are. Ever more so as populations grow, communication of some kind becomes faster and more prevalent, and the places we live and work become more integrated with one another; you cannot opt out of this interconnectedness, for better or worse, whether we like it or not. Not to sell short the "better" and "we like it" parts, which are real and important.

Part of internalizing that interconnectedness is accepting that we have to really get along with, and not just tolerate until we can convert or eradicate, people who believe different things than we do. It's more than a little odd to be reminded of the need to get along by the vast influence of the head of one sect of one schismatized faith.

It could also be the novelty of an ancient organization going through their odd customs. We don't see it often. 

DarkMonohue said:

Memes aside, it's interesting how invested the secular world is in this. As a born-again feral agnostic, bordering on atheist, a new pope seems about as relevant ro my life as a new flavor of lip balm. And yet secular media is on this as rabidly as anything else they cover. It makes me wonder why it evidently matters so much to so many people outside the Catholic faith, or outside of Christianity in general.

I'm of a similar set of religious beliefs as you are.  The reason it's important to me is similar to who becomes PM of Canada, or President of Russia.  It's a bellwether for the future of a global influence.

From what I've heard, Pope Leo is a strong supporter of helping those who need it - poor, minorities, countries that are struggling, etc.  That's a positive in my book.

No Time said:

I'm seeing mixed info online about his Jazz Trombone skills and playing at festivals in the 70s and 80s. 

That story appears to have been debunked, he was in school and then in Peru during that time period.  There is a photo of him from his younger years where he had a lot of hair and a moustache where he looks like someone who played the trombone (I'm a lifelong trombonist myself, so I can recognize the signs.  )

In reply to stuart in mn :

That's disappointing. I saw it on the morning news and when checking online saw conflicting reports. 

Jesse Ransom said:

In reply to DarkMonohue :

...you cannot opt out of this interconnectedness...

Berkeley. 

DarkMonohue said:

Memes aside, it's interesting how invested the secular world is in this. As a born-again feral agnostic, bordering on atheist, a new pope seems about as relevant ro my life as a new flavor of lip balm. And yet secular media is on this as rabidly as anything else they cover. It makes me wonder why it evidently matters so much to so many people outside the Catholic faith, or outside of Christianity in general.

Does the general population actually have any real influence on what the media outlets present? If not, then it may not be valid conclusion that the content reflects the actual interests of the consumers.

In reply to secretariata (Forum Supporter) :

<shrug> Iunno.

I mean, in theory, sure. In theory, media outlets compete for audience share by seeking out stories that are as compelling as possible to the greatest possible number of people. Whether that theory remains valid in the era of clickbait headlines and kinky algorithms is a whole 'nother can of peaches. It's a fascinating (likely infuriating) discussion in and of itself, but I've dragged this far enough from popedom already...