Papal decree

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The canonical election of Cardinal Joseph Alois Ratzinger would be remembered, for as long as memory exists, on this day of April, ending the papal vacancy since the fifth of that same month.

As soon as Sodano, the vice deacon of the College of Cardinals, asked him to accept the position that God had selected, at the end of the fourth ballot, he did not hesitate to say ‘I accept.’ The five seconds he took to reply ‘Pope Benedict’ to the question ‘What name do you wish to be called?’ also indicated forethought. Don’t forget that Ratzinger was the deacon of the college — that is, had he not been the chosen one, he would have asked the same questions to the elected candidate. It’s a curious fact that 90 percent of his predecessors preferred a name different from the one their mothers gave them.

The faithful congregated in Saint Peter’s Square, hoping that the smoke would be white, not the dark, ashen color it was. Few of those present remembered the first and second conclaves of 1978, in which the same problem arose. Nine million euros to organize a conclave, and they always forgot to clean the chimney of the Sistine Chapel. So, after ten minutes of waiting, with many leaving the square, the bells of the basilica roared with frenzied alarm, spreading smiles instead of fear, through the whole plaza and surroundings.

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