Ave, atque vale!

I just turned off Paula Zahn’s tribute program for Pope John Paul II. Seems like she could at least wait until he died. Under the circumstances, though, I can forgive her. We witness a momentous juncture as the torch is passed once again. The death and election of a new pope, whether you’re Catholic or not, represents a tradition stretching back two thousand years. No other present-day seat of power has endured so many centuries. What does your world have in common with that of Constantine, Justinian, Charlemagne, Erik the Red, Marco Polo, and William Shakespeare? That’s right, the papacy.

There was a time wherein Pope Gregory VII could make Henry IV stand barefoot in the snow for three days. Those days are long past. For better or worse, the Holy See of Rome has contributed much to shape the world in which we all live. Whatever our religious convictions, the Catholic church is an indelible part of our Western heritage, and it gives us a degree of, well, continuity, that I can and do appreciate. Were I in Rome, I too would stand vigil.

Ite, missa est.