Vision SPRING 2013 Faith and Education - Chaminade Julienne ...

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living the faith HABEMUS PAPAM We Have a Pope! by Tina Martinek ‘04 By Fr. Luke Ballman ‘83 About the Author Fr. Luke Ballman ‘83 earned a bachelor’s in business administration from the University of Dayton in 1987 and then moved to Atlanta to work as a management consultant. He entered the seminary for the Archdiocese of Atlanta in 1995, and was ordained a priest in 2001. He has served as a parochial vicar, pastor, and director of vocations in Atlanta, and has been working at his alma mater in Rome for two years managing the pastoral assignments of seminarians. Fr. Ballman teaches theology, is the chaplain at the Rome campus of St. John’s University, and is involved with Catholic Relief Services. In his free time he enjoys running, having completed the Rome marathon and many half marathons in the United States. Having just entered St. Peter’s Square for the first time since the Papal Conclave began, I saw the black smoke. It was the evening of March 12, and now we knew no pope had been elected. I recalled the last conclave when there was some confusion regarding the color of the smoke during the election of Pope Benedict XVI, but there was certainly no doubt tonight. The smoke was as black as black could be. The energy level of the crowd had been running high and those present were excited just to be part of history in the making. It wasn’t surprising at all that the collective erupted into a cheer when the first puffs of smoke appeared, though soon the realization set in that the cheer was for a vote that resulted in “no pope.” The magnitude of the crowd surprised me. It was a cold, rainy night and umbrellas prevented a good view of the large screens that showed a close-up of the chimney, and made it difficult to see the chimney itself. I thought a few curious pilgrims would be present, and yet the piazza was full. When we saw the black smoke it didn’t take long for it to empty. We trudged back to the seminary in the rain, wondering how long the conclave would last. No one really thought we would have a new pope on the first vote. Our anticipation continued to grow that evening though and the following morning, too, as everyone wondered who the new pope would be and when he would be announced. I missed the smoke that morning. I was planning to go to St. Peter’s Square, but the smoke rose early, just as I was getting ready to leave the seminary to head down. I was determined that would not happen again. A little piece of Georgia in Rome That day, I had lunch with Archbishop Gregory, the Archbishop of Atlanta. He was present in Rome to serve as a commentator for ABC News, and was staying with us at the seminary. He took all of the Georgia men from the seminary out to pranzo — our main meal which is served midday in Italy. There was much discussion about the process of electing a pope, what the cardinals might be thinking, how a papal name was chosen and when, and whatever else we could think of to discuss regarding the conclave. We were able to pick his brain about his work with ABC News, and what his thoughts were on the process. While we were far from home, we were a little piece of Georgia present at a restaurant in Rome less than a mile from St. Peter’s where history was being made. It was a wonderful family gathering with our father. He was shepherding us just like any father would try to help his children to better comprehend what was happening around us. There was much laughter, prayer for the cardinals, and good camaraderie. About 5:15 that evening, a seminarian and I made our way to join the vigil. It was a bit early, but I was determined not to miss anything. Rainy and cold again, I was clad in my trench coat and armed with an umbrella. My companion and I soon found ourselves with other Americans huddled in the cold rain. We waited, and waited. Although we knew that the evening smoke would not be present until after the second ballot of the afternoon, we decided to go to the square to see the outcome of the first ballot. If the first ballot did not elect a pope there would be no smoke, black or white. If the first ballot did elect a pope, there would be white smoke immediately. Under no circumstances did we want to miss the possibility of seeing the white smoke. What if we had a pope after the first ballot of the afternoon, and we weren’t there? So there we stood in the rain, SPRING 2013 2013 2 2
Photos courtesy of Catholic News Service/The Catholic Telegraph getting colder by the minute. Eventually we realized there would be no smoke – the first ballot of the afternoon did not elect a pope. Now what? Should we stay in the piazza for another hour to wait, or head back to the seminary for an hour? We decided to stay for the second ballot rather than walking back to the seminary only to return later. We would also avoid standing in the security line for a second time that day. Maybe this is it! From talking to the archbishop at lunch, we expected that we would see smoke by 6:45 p.m., unless a pope was elected. Additional time would be required to make preparations before sending up the smoke. 6:45 came and went, and still no smoke. 6:55, no smoke. 7:00, no smoke. People were talking, “Maybe this is it!” The smoke started coming out and everyone began to cheer. It looked kind of white at first, and then grey. What was going on? Then we heard the bells. Sure enough, it was white. Everyone started cheering and clapping. The piazza was crowded, and we knew that it would soon become so packed we wouldn’t be able to move. The crowd started moving, and we moved with it. Everyone wanted a good view of the loggia, the balcony from which the pope would be announced, and from which the new pope would emerge to give us his first blessing. We were able to navigate to the front of the crowd, about 20 or 30 rows back, right in the middle of the square. We have a pope! In the meantime, the bells of St. Peter’s continued ringing and that brought tears to my eyes. They just kept ringing and ringing and ringing, and all the bells around Rome just joined in. Habemus papam! We have a pope! But who? The excitement continued to mount as more and more people pushed themselves into St. Peter’s Square. We looked around for other Americans from our seminary. When we saw one another we cheered the same thing across the crowded square — people were crying in every imaginable language, “We have a pope!” Then we heard the sound of a drum and we saw the Swiss Guard marching in. They started in the back of the piazza. They were in full regalia, marching in formation. It was pomp and circumstance all at once. How did they get ready so soon? Were they on call after every ballot to march at a moment’s notice? An Italian honor guard, and other groups joined them as well, and all eventually made their way to the front of the piazza and stood at attention. It was utterly amazing. We were in the midst of this holy, regal, sacred moment. The lights went on at the level of the loggia of St. Peter’s. I had never seen that before. Everyone started crying out in whatever language, mostly Italian, “Long live the pope.” Finally the announcement was made, “Habemus papam — We have a pope.” There were people waving Italian flags, French flags, German flags, American flags, Spanish flags and, I believe, Argentine flags. Pope Francis Emerges In Latin the cardinal told us his name, that he was from Argentina, and that he would be called Francis. I had never heard of him before. The piazza and the street leading into it were crowded with people who were cheering and texting and making phone calls. Everyone started chanting, “Francesco, Francesco, Francesco.” It was so celebratory, so full of joy and laughter. It was like the Italians had won the World Cup, but so much better. The rows of windows surrounding the loggia became filled with the red color of the cardinals’ vestments. The crowd began cheering to the cardinals in Italian, “Bravo!” – “Good job!” Then Pope Francis came out and the crowd erupted with even more applause and cheering. I think the first thing he said was “Buonasera, Roma,”—“Good evening, Rome.” “The first thing I would like to ask you to do is to pray together for my predecessor, Bishop Emeritus Benedict.” What had been this raucous, rock concert sort of atmosphere went silent. In complete silence, we prayed for our previous pope, and our new one. Wow. Then he left and the curtains were drawn. — continued on page 13 VISION 3
Page 1 and 2: St. Mary’s School Notre Dame Acad
Page 3: Vision Vision is a publication of C
Page 7 and 8: Students from Carroll and CJ greet
Page 9 and 10: Five Receive Early Admits to the Un
Page 11 and 12: On Campus for 86 Years Marianists M
Page 13 and 14: milestones alumni news 1940 Alma Lo
Page 15 and 16: Mary Resh Timbrook ‘34 Oscar Krog
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Page 19 and 20: Individual Class Parties SATURDAY,

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