Black Smoke - No Pope

I'm not entirely sure why but I happen to LOVE this headline I found on Facebook earlier.  It sums up this whole crazy process perfectly succinctly.  That being said, I'm a little too obsessed with following the craziness of this papal conclave.  The last time this happened, I was completely and utterly confused by the whole shabang.  You'd think after 13 years of Catholic school, I would have learned at least the name for the Pope-Idol process that happens when the Pope passes away.

But in all that time, I never heard the words Papal Conclave, let alone what happens during the super secret ceremonies.  So I relied on the media to tell me what the heck was going on.  I have to say, it was not the best plan. Because, as it turns out I still have no idea. I'm just as clueless 7 years later as I was for Pope Benedict's "inauguration." (I'm certain that's the wrong word, but like I said I'm clueless...)For instance, I've been under the delusion that the papal candidate had to be at least 75 but as it turns out one of the dudes in the running is 68 and apparently quite the fan of Twitter so you see, he's a perfect leadership candidate...

All I have to say about the whole thing is this.  Maybe if the Cardinals and the Vatican were less concerned with perfecting and steadfastly following a process that was developed hundreds of years ago and more focused on real changes that need to be made within the church such as allowing priests to marry, "legalizing" birth control and gay marriage, and most importantly treating the victims of sex abuse with the respect they deserve, then maybe the Catholic church wouldn't be in the predicament they're in in the 21st century.

That being said, I'd really like the below to be true.  It actually makes much more sense than colored smoke and super secret rituals.  At least this way, we'd stand a chance of finally seeing a progressive take office.