Tag: vatican

Pope Benedict XVI

I am sure you’re aware that Joseph Ratzinger was selected to be the next pope – it’s all over the news. I think the message is clear: the Vatican did not want another long papacy. You can learn some interesting things about the new pope at Wikipedia. For example, he’s the eight German pope, and the first since 1523.

The name he selected is not all that surprising either. Indeed, Rogers Cadenhead registered a bunch of domain names ahead of the selection of the new pope, including BenedictXVI.com. Apparently the domain has received about 100 hits a minute since Ratzinger was selected. Why didn’t I think of that! I doubt it bothers the Vatican much however, considering they have their own top-level domain “.va” to use.

Pope's death announced by email

Unless you’re living under a rock somewhere, you have no doubt heard of the Pope’s death by now. What you probably have not heard, however, is that the Vatican announced John Paul II’s death by email:

“The Holy Father, John Paul II, died at 9:37 p.m. (1937GMT) in his private apartment,” the message read. “All procedures foreseen in the Apostolic Constitution `Universi Dominici Gregis’ (`Of the Lord’s Whole Flock’), promulgated by John Paul II on February 22, 1996, have been activated.”

Announcing his death by email is pretty notable considering the number of other traditions and rituals that will still be carried out – like striking the Pope on the head with a silver hammer. And when the cardinals vote on a new Pope, the ballots are burned with a special chemical to make smoke white or black – white signals a new Pope has been chosen.

I read elsewhere today that John Paul II was the first pontiff to utilize modern technology like airplanes and computers. Interesting, but not all that surprising when you consider that these things were first catching on when he became Pope 26 years ago.

Read: CNN