Not surprising at all. They've had about a month to think about it, and to research the other cardinals!! I thought they might be done by today...glad to see that happen. They really shouldn't have needed much time to get this done.
Not RC either, but Episcopalian....very interesting to watch the process. Hoping Pope Francis finds the guidance he is going to need for this journey!!! What a huge responsibility.
Now one has to wonder what happens to those that normally surround the pope. Does the new pope get to bring in his own 'people'??[/QUOTE]
That's actually a really big questions, and will be interesting (to those who are interested in such things) to see how it plays out. The Pope's the Pope, so he can appoint whoever he wants and bring in all his own people as advisors and leaders. That said, there are a LOT of long-time clerics in positions of power in the Vatican (known as the curia). Many people feel that the curia needs a really thorough cleansing. T
This is a terrible analogy, but think about the Executive Branch when a new President is elected. Some people automatically move out and the new Pres brings in his own people (white house staff, close advisors, heads of agencies depending on their policy views). But a lot of people in the executive branch stay on. Random IRS agents, engineers for NASA, beurocrats of all stripes, basically stay on regardless. The President can't just fire all of NASA, even if he thinks NASA should go to Jupiter instead of Mars (or whatever).
The Pope could, though, reassign every person in Vatican city. Obviously that would be chaos - it's a Nation-State and needs some kind of continuity. So how deeply the replacements go is a question. Does he just bring in his own people as personal advisors and let the rest of the Church buerocracy stay on? Does he do a wholesale clean-sweep? Obviously it will probably be somewhere in between.
I will definitely join him in prayer and will pray for him.
