Thanks
to these two guys, I had a front row seat to history. Well, at least an
8th
row seat to history.
Jay was doing a live call-in on Boston Catholic TV,
explaining the
excitement of the moment. And, in a moment of poor judgment, they even
had me on the air - live - talking about the event.
The first thing I had to report was that there were so many young
people in the crowd. Seriously,
Jay and the Monsignor completely threw off the average age just by
being there. And I couldn't help but be impressed by the sincere love
and faith the people in the crowd had for the Church. And for the Pope.
I knew everyone loved John Paul II. But the fact that we were all truly
moved and excited to meet our new Holy Father? This was just one more
thing John
Paul the Great gave us: a love for the papacy. Even when he wasn't the
pope.
And then, the cardinal came onto the balcony. We were all completely
silent as he said the words we were waiting for:
"HABEMUS PAPAM!"
(We have a Pope!)
Cheering. Yelling. Laughing.
And then, of course, there was just that
one minor detail:
Who WAS the new Pope? Well, here's what he said in Latin:
"Eminentissimum ac Reverendissimum Dominum, Dominum Josephum..."
Josephum? That was it.
There's that famous line in Jerry Maguire: "You
had me
at hello." Well, we didn't have to hear anymore...
Because "He had us at
Josephum." We knew it was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, and we went wild.
Then, more Latin:
"Qui sibi nomen imposuit
Benedictum XVI."
Benedict the 16th. Wow. What a Papal name. And a fitting name, since
the name means "Blessing". And we knew Benedict XVI would be a blessing
for the Church.
So the crowd immediately started chanting his name in Italian:
"Benedetto!" "Benedetto!"
