Catholic Church
The New Pope Is Old. He Better Make Every Second Count.
Who says the Catholic Church can’t change? By electing Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina, the conclave of Cardinals just made history. The list of “firsts” is […]
WATCH: St. Joe’s Prep Student Gives “Wet Willie” During Live Newscast
It may be that St. Joe’s Prep makes Philadelphia’s future leaders, but that doesn’t mean the students there don’t know how to prank each other […]
The New Pope Must Ride SEPTA
“Habemus Papam,” Cardinal Jean-Louis Pierre Tauran said from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican on Wednesday. Nobody knew what he meant, […]
Philly Archbishop Changes his Mind: Girls CAN Play Football
Today the Philadelphia Archdiocese decided it had reversed its decision to ban girls from playing football in CYO leagues. Benefitting, along with any girl who […]
Cool Photo: Papal Conclave Then and Now
NBC notes the difference eight years makes. (The iPhone was only invented in 2007.) Note the pioneer in the bottom right-hand corner of the 2005 […]
Why Do Popes Choose New Names?
What was wrong with Jorge? Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio not only became Pope today, he became Francis I, likely after St. Francis of Assisi, the […]
A New Pope Has Been Chosen [UPDATED]
Habemus Papam! At around 2:05 EST, white smoke billowed from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel, signaling that the College of Cardinals has decided on […]
CBS 3 Anchor Susan Barnett Interviews Dennis Rodman at the Vatican
It’s true: Dennis Rodman was at the Vatican, monitoring the chimney of the Sistine Chapel for white smoke. He’s apparently there to promote the candidacy […]
PA Might Ignore Chance to Give Sex-Abuse Victims a Second Chance at Justice
I can’t help but think about Bill Conlin this week. Conlin, you’ll surely remember, was the legendary baseball writer for the Philadelphia Daily News, a […]
Would Philadelphia Care If The Next Pope Had Mafia Ties?
Since I’m one of four people in the world who actually kind of liked The Godfather Part III—what with its byzantine plot regarding popes, cardinals, […]
Will Timothy Dolan or Sean O’Malley Become the First American Pope?
The front page of today’s Inky contemplates the possibility of an American pope, something considered taboo until now. Officially, the cardinals gathered in Rome aren’t […]
Just in Time: An App That Texts You When the New Pope is Chosen
Depending on where you are in the world, it may not be convenient for you to be refreshing your browser at all hours, waiting for […]
Papal Conclave Set for Tuesday
Mark your calendars, buy your plane tickets, or fire up your South Philly papal blogs! However you choose to mark the occasion, the Vatican has […]
Man Dressed as Cardinal Sneaks Into the Vatican for Conclave
The best story you’ll read today: An Australian man (of course he’s from Down Under) wearing a scarf for a sash, a fake necklace, and […]
Philly’s Papal Blogger NOT Headed to Rome for Conclave
Forget that entire blog post I wrote the other day, announcing that “South Philly’s own papal svengali Rocco Palmo is headed to the Vatican to […]