January 14, 2006

Paul Elie's "Year of Two Popes"

As people who were reading this blog back in the spring of 2005 likely remember (since I posted on the decline of John Paul II and the process of electing his successor many times - see here, here, here, here and here for just a few tastes of that - and just go back and scroll through our archives for the first three weeks in April if you want much, much more), the papacy and the College of Cardinals are among my (perhaps unexpected) interests. If you are interested in such matters too, you might be interested in reading Paul Elie's cover story in the most recent issue of The Atlantic. It contains a lot of backstage drama about the (very cosiderable) decline of the last pope, and the machinations that put the new one in office. I thought it was pretty interesting. It provides further confirmation that the guy I thought would get the job (the Archbishop of Buenos Aires) came in second in the balloting, and it uncovers the importance of some matters I didn't know much about previously - like the timing of Cardinal Gantin stepping down as Dean of the College and the conflicts between Benedict XVI and the Secretary of State.

Posted by armand at January 14, 2006 10:37 PM | TrackBack | Posted to Religion


Comments
Post a comment









Remember personal info?