CARDINAL ROBERT PREVOST: First Ever American Pope

Just around the time I finally got around to watching the movie, Conclave (Rotten Tomatoes 93/86), the real Conclave voted American Cardinal Robert Prevost as the new Pope Leo XIV.  No one saw this coming.  No American had ever been pope since the first one nearly 2000 years ago.  For those who know nothing about religion, Pope Leo XIV now becomes the Bishop of Rome and leader of the Catholic Church with a membership of 1.4 billion for as long as he continues.  By the way, St. Peter, one of the apostles of Jesus, was the first pope.

No one saw this coming.

• The heavy favorite was Cardinal Pietro Parolin (right), the Vatican's secretary of state under Pope Francis.
• Cardinal Prevost's betting odds hovered in the range of 2% to 1%....or less.
• He was born in Chicago, spent periods in Peru, but most of his youth and professional life in that city.

• 
  Started with a math B.S. from Villanova in 1977, but went on to earn a Licentiate of Canon Law and a Doctor of Canon Law from the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome. 
• Is fluent in English, Spanish, Italian, French and Portuguese, but can also read Latin and German.
• Was only made cardinal by Pope Francis in 2023.
• Is a fan of the Chicago White Sox.

About the film, Conclave, Ralph Fiennes' role in Rome was played by the favorite, Cardinal Pietro Parolin.  Fiennes was dean of the College of Cardinals, while Stanley Tucci, an American, was the Vatican secretary of state.  Also from the movie, another unknown, perhaps with less than a 1% chance of being selected, ends up being voted pope.  Won't say who in case you have yet to see the film.  This 2024 film earlier this year received 8 nominations, including for Best Picture, which was won by Anora (Rotten Tomatoes 93/84).

How much will Pope Leo XIV be paid?

• There is no traditional salary.
• Instead, the Vatican provides for the pontiff's needs.
• Pope Francis declined any sort of salary, but had a net worth of around $16 million based on these expenses.

Pope facts.

• Longest serving:  
• Saint Peter, 30-64 or 33-67, or 34 years.

• 
  Pope Pius IX, from 1846 to 1878, 31 years, 7 months and 23 days.  
• Pope John Paul II, 1978-2005, 26 years, 5 months and 17 days.
• Pope Urban VII, September 15-27, 1590, 13 calendar days....shortest length.  Nine popes only remained so for less than a month.

• 
  Oldest was Benedict XVI, who was 96 years old when he died in 2022, while the youngest was John XII, just 18 in 955 as the 130th Pope.
• The average of the 62 popes elected since 1400 is 62.4 years.

• 
  Who can be pope?
• Unmarried.
• Baptized male Catholic.
• The Conclave voting process has been around for 600+ years, but popes have been in place for around 2000 years.
• Pope Leo XIV is the 267th pope.
• Of course Vatican City's St. Peter's Basilica is name after the first pope.
• Popes are not required to change names.  The first to do this was the 56th because thought Mercurius was inappropriate, so named himself Pope John II in the year 533.
• The last baptismal pope was Marcellus II in 1955.

• 
  Most popular name is John, 23 times, with the last John XXIII, the 261st pope in 1958.  Gregory with 16, 15 Benedicts, 14 Clements and 13 Innocents, the latter the chosen name from Conclave.
• Noticed that the garments worn by Ralph Fiennes were liturgically fashionable.  Since 1978, the Gammarelli family tailors in Rome have provided the pope's vestments.

• 
  About being pope.
• They go to confession, usually weekly, or every two weeks.
• The pope is head of his own country, Vatican City, with a population of 700.
• Has his own hospital.
• Has no material possessions.
• Best pope?  No consensus.  However, #1, Pope St. Peter, did found the Catholic religion.
• 
  Worst pope?  Perhaps Alexander VI (1492-1503), who established new cardinal positions in exchange for money.  This probably spurred the Protestant Reformation.
• Pope Francis was the fifth most powerful person in the world, next to Jeff Bezos, Angela Merkel, Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and #1, Xi Jinping.
• Pope has an X account.

I had lunch in our room watching Conclave.

Docked next to our ship is the Regent Seven Seas Explorer, the ship we were on last year from Dubai to Singapore.

There is confusion about Anchorage and ports.  There is the Don Young Port of Alaska, also commonly referred to as the Port of Anchorage.  Wikipedia refers to this harbor as the Port of Alaska. because the name was so changed in 2017.  Anchorage is 2 miles away.

Unfortunately, our ship is in the Whittier Cruise Terminal, which is 58 miles southeast of Anchorage.  Whittier has a population of less than 300, with around 200 inches of rain/year.  That 1964 Good Friday Earthquake reached a height of 43 feet.  So the obvious question is why cruise ships dock here instead of Anchorage.  Read this, might make sense to you.

So about that tour to Anchorage, I did not bother to go.  Wasted a couple hundred dollars.  Basically, the company took 1.5 hours to get there, dropped passengers off at the Anchorage Museum, and picked them up for another 1.5 hour ride back.  Left at 10:30AM, returned at 5PM.  What a waste.  Oceania is great for cuisine, but terrible for tours.  But here are some photos and videos from Charlene.  Starts with the 2.6-mile Whittier Tunnel, which has only lane.  Lot of waiting.

The Anchorage Museum is all about Alaska.  First opened in 1968, it now welcomes 180,000/year.  Entrance fee of $25, paid by you through the tour, but no free lunch.

I can show ten more photos, but go to Anchorage Museum for details.  Here is one video,

The ship departed Whittier.

On to dinner of oxtail soup and steak.

Ending with an Irish cappucchino and soufflé.

Returned to our cabin at around 9:30PM to a sunset, with a moon.

All time low walk day.

Tomorrow, the Hubbard Glacier.

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