Posted by Sari
If I remember my rudimentary latin correctly. I was just a wee thing when John Paul II was elected, but old enough to remember vaguely the two conclaves that followed the deaths of Paul VI and John Paul I. I wonder where I got the information? I am trying to remember myself at the age of ten and drawing a blank. I don’t think I was an avid reader of newspapers at that age, but I propably watched news from the black-and-white TV my parents hid in a cupboard when it was not in use. I do think that the main source of information about the traditions must have been my Aunt (also a historian) who loves Rome and used to visit the city often.
Be that as it may 1978 there was no 24/7 news media and thus this conlcave was the first where the whole world (at least those with TV/radio/net access) could immerse themselves in the drama. And we certainly did. Even I had one window open to Washington Post’s live camera feed from St. Peter’s square while in another window I was reading a pamphlet by miniature painter and architect Sir Balthazar Gerbier entituled “A Discovery of certain notorious stumbling-blocks which the Devill, the Pope and the Malignants have raised to put nations at Variance” (London 1652).
And by chance “Médico de Familia” ended on YLE Teema just when the bells were ringing to confirm the white smoke rising from the chimney. And as a spectacle it was surprisingly exciting: cameras zooming on the balcony, reporters trying to decipher the latin announcement (okay it was pretty easy to pick out “Ratzinger”, so no great language skills were needed), and then the little old man blessing the crowd who did not seem to want to quiet down.
As Sarin noted in Johanna’s Blog, our frame of reference now includeds reality TV which gave its own weirdish stamp to the proceedings. It was not difficult to conjure up images of cardinals going to the chalice with their hand-written ballots and survivor-like looking at the camera and saying something like “Claudio, I love you man, but I just have give it to Joseph this time”, or Benedict XVI emerging to the balcony like the winner of "Big Brother", the Vatican edition.
And strangely, considering how much I instinctively and and emotionally disliked John Paul II, I feel quite calm about the prospect of the Papacy of Benedict XVI. Panzerkardinal or God’s Rottweiler he might be but maybe because of his reputation as a scholar and theologican, I don’t get the scary evangelical vibe from him. Not that vibes are anything to go by, really.
Comments