Posts in: catholic church

Where There’s Smoke, There’s Friar

Habemus papam!

As it happened, I was sitting at a cafe in the city of Assisi when Cardinal Robert Prevost was announced as the 267th Bishop of Rome.

I’m still digesting the circumstances: an American Pope, graduate of Chicago’s Catholic Theological Union, a White Sox fan!

I love that he chose the name Leo XIV. As he remarked to the College of Cardinals, the name indicates a focus I believe is super important:

Sensing myself called to continue in this same path, I chose to take the name Leo XIV. There are different reasons for this, but mainly because Pope Leo XIII in his historic Encyclical Rerum Novarum addressed the social question in the context of the first great industrial revolution. In our own day, the Church offers to everyone the treasury of her social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defence of human dignity, justice and labour. Source: vatican.va

I will continue to pray for the new Pope. In order to live into his new role, he will need God’s grace and the collaboration of the faithful and all people of good will.

The kerning on the pope’s tomb is a travesty

It really is quietly beautiful. But atop that marble is a tomb inscribed with the name “Franciscus.” Or what—due to terrible spacing between letters, known as kerning—reads something more like “F R A NCIS VS.”

This is a grave matter.

Habemus Papam

Per recent news, I was reminded of this gem of a film: the winner of Best Film at the 2011 Italian Golden Globes.

A movie that imagines an answer to the question: What if the Cardinal elected by the conclave is worried he’s not up to the job?

Someone just unironically asked me:

Is the pope Catholic?

Pope Francis Appoints Father James Mark Beckman Next Bishop of Knoxville

“I am blessed and honored to accept this appointment from the Holy Father,” Bishop-elect Beckman said. “I am a native Tennessean, and I am grateful that I can continue serving the Church and now the faithful of the Diocese of Knoxville in this region that I know well and love tremendously.”

This is the best church news I’ve heard in a long time!

Fr. Mark taught me in high school. He was an important influence on how I’ve grown as a human, a leader, and a Catholic Christian.

You don’t see many new bishop pictures featuring a fleece jacket. Consider it evidence of Beckman’s sheepy aroma. 😆

May God continue to bless Bishop-Elect Beckman & the people of Knoxville.