New Zealand Conservative

I'm very happy with the result!!! Sorry, so much happening today, I forgot to say earlier! In case anyone missed it, we have a pope: Pope Francis .

Live coverage from the Guardian New Zealand Herald Everyone's assuming he chose his name from St Francis of Assisi , but what about St Francis Xavier ? Transcript of the new pope's first words to the world: Brothers and sisters, good evening. You know that the duty of the conclave was to give a bishop to Rome. It seems that my brother cardinals went almost to the end of the world to get him. But here we are. I thank you for this welcome by the diocesan community of Rome to its bishop. Thank you. First of all, I would like to say a prayer for our bishop emeritus, Benedict XVI.Let us all pray together for him, let us all pray together for him so that the Lord my bless him and that the Madonna may protect him. (The new pope then prayed the "Lord's Prayer", the "Hail Mary" and the "Glory Be" with the crowd in Italian). He then continued: And now, let us start this journey, bishop and people, bishop and people, this journey of th...

As one cardinal said, " It is a dangerous time. Pray for us ." Even if you are not Catholic, here are some reasons to pray for the Conclave: 1. Intercessory prayer is a duty of Christian charity. We are obligated to uphold one another in prayer. St. Paul told the Galatians to "Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ" (Gal 6:2). Notice that he calls it a "law of Christ." Prayer is one way of sharing burdens and it's not just about kindness, but about obeying a commandment of Christ... 2. The pope of Rome is the most visible and influential Christian in the world. In our day and age more than ever, it matters who the pope is. Most people, including nonChristian and nonreligious people, have a pretty good idea of who the pope is and what he has to say about x, y, and z. Can that be said of any other Christian leader? I don't even know who to list in comparison. You might have one person, like Billy Graham, who ...

Ralph Napierski, left, a fake bishop poses with cardinal Sergio Sebiastiana ( Source) Ralph Napierski, a self-appointed bishop from an apparently fictional order called Corpus Dei, managed to get through a checkpoint manned by Swiss Guards but was stopped before entering the Paul VI Hall, where the cardinals were gathering. Dressed in fake bishop’s vestments, complete with a purple sash, Mr Napierski smiled to photographers as he mixed with more than 140 cardinals from around the world as they filed into the hall to discuss the challenges facing the Church and possible “papabili” or papal candidates. On closer inspection the sash turned out to be a scarf. Unlike the elderly cardinals, who wore their distinctive red skull caps, the impostor wore a black fedora-style hat with a rim. At one point he posed for photographs, shaking hands with Cardinal Sergio Sebiastiana, an Italian who is president emeritus of the Prefecture for Economic Affairs of the Holy See and a member of t...

In front of a world seemingly fixated on rushing madly toward endless triviality, with no respect or affection for the previously nourishing traditions of the human race, Benedict XVI, a “humble servant” quite conscious of the grave limits of his own forces, has given the Church an historic chance to renew herself, and to return with even greater vigor and effect to the service of liberating truth. In the face of a global challenge without precedent, the Pope himself has taken an unprecedented step. In the face of an Enemy who seeks to destroy the human couple of Adam and Eve, distorting that couple and transforming their offspring into merchandise at the mercy of merciless laws and governments, the Church, supreme protectress of a free humanity, though attacked from without and betrayed from within, remains nevertheless the best, last hope humanity has to escape from the enslaving chains now being forged against our race. Benedict’s decision to resign must be seen in this perspe...

An interview with Cardinal Francis George: What’s the central difference between the conclave of 2005 and this one? The central difference is that the names out there, I’ve found, are all reasonable candidates. Last time there were a lot of names, and it seemed to me [the press] was searching for names. While there was truly more than one candidate going into the conclave, a lot of the names that had been discussed beforehand in the press were not serious candidates, and we all knew that. This time the names that are before us in the public media are, in fact, serious candidates. That’s not to say they’ll all stay that way, but for right now there are good reasons their names are out there. I mean a reason in terms of the church, and not just somebody wishing for something he or she would like to see happen. For the record, I don't know who is likely to be elected pope. I'm just praying for the best candidate, and leaving the rest up to the cardinals doing the ele...