The Holy Father

I'm not Catholic, but I was a Religious Studies major. Why does that matter, you ask? Well, I learned to appreciate the appeal and history of various religions, including the symbols, people and texts for the respective religions. Breadth over depth.

However, I felt ignorant recently when discussing or listening to news reports about the Pope. Specifically, what happens when the Pope passes away? How is a new Pope selected (all I knew is that this involved smoke)? Why are the processes the way they are?

Find out more about the Papacy:

Vatican Website
Vatican Procedure to Verify When a Pope Dies
How the Papacy Works - More detailed, Including Election of a New Pope (from "How Stuff Works" site)
Find out how many saints were proclaimed during the Pontificate of Pope John Paul II -- as well as how many of those saints were born in the 1900's (more than you may have thought) (you need to go through the names and dates)

"Knowledge is power......"