Having lived in Rome for several years and even taught at the Pontificia Università degli Studi San Tommaso d’Aquino, I have developed a specific interest in the Catholic Church, or more precisely, in the Vatican. It is a contradictory structure: consider that access to certain ‘inner parts’ is only possible by saying a password, which is checked by members of the Swiss Guard, but on the other hand, modern public relations work is carried out through the Church’s own radio station, the use of mobile phones is a matter of course, and Pope Francis had been active on twitter. All this, and my very personal involvement in the election process of Pope Francis, are the reasons why I have been following the reporting of the last few weeks rather closely. There is at least one ‘secret message’ – perhaps not so much secret as ‘mostly overlooked’. The following quote is telling – the same holy spirit can be found in other messages from some other participants of the conclave:
Cardinal Nichols, the Archbishop of Westminster, said that his mobile phone was taken off him, adding that he found he had “more time on my hands just to be prayerful, just to reflect, just to be still, rather than being constantly agitated… or prompted by what might be coming in” on his phone.
“For me, one of the experiences of these last few days was to learn a bit of patience, to just take this step by step,” he said.
“There was a calmness, a bit of solemnity,” he continued, adding that everyone he spoke to when in it was “peaceful and just wanting to do this well”.
(https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz63wgxe1vlo; 11/05/2025)
How about a mobile-phone free day per week, or week per month for everybody?
COMMEDIA DELLA VITA OR PÁNTA RÊI'S FIRM GROUND 