{"id":38102,"date":"2013-02-28T08:00:51","date_gmt":"2013-02-28T14:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.austincnm.com\/?p=38102"},"modified":"2013-02-27T22:08:47","modified_gmt":"2013-02-28T04:08:47","slug":"where-do-popes-come-from-a-parents-guide-to-adorable-and-bizarre-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2013\/02\/where-do-popes-come-from-a-parents-guide-to-adorable-and-bizarre-questions\/","title":{"rendered":"Where do Popes come from? A parent’s guide to adorable and bizarre questions."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Today is our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI’s last day in office. Like so many of us, my little family has been praying over the future of our Church. We have even “adopted” a cardinal for whom we are praying. We’ve been digging up old pictures of our trip to Rome, explaining the\u00a0hierarchy<\/a>\u00a0of our Church to our kids and delving into its beautiful universality.<\/p>\n

And answering questions about the Pope’s (possibly) secret holy superpowers.<\/p>\n

Interesting and hilarious conversations have come up. Such as, “does the Pope live in a tower high in the sky so he can be close to God?” “Which special powers does the Pope have? Like, can he fly out of his window from place to place?” “Is the Pope-mobile for real???” Sigh. When we were explaining the Church’s age old hierarchy, our eldest asked if there were any knights and pawns at the Vatican. \u00a0He wasn’t joking, he is just really<\/em> into chess.<\/p>\n

Obviously, we discovered fairly quickly that we have not adequately discussed this aspect of our Catholic heritage with our young children. While we weren’t expecting to have to let go of our beloved Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI so soon, his resignation does present a unique opportunity to share this historical moment with our children, and that part is exciting.<\/p>\n

It would be impossible for me to do justice to 2,000 years of history. But if you are looking for a basic way to explain things, this may help!<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 5 Things to Teach Children about the Papacy<\/strong><\/p>\n

1) The Pope is the earthly father of the Catholic Church worldwide. \u00a0The name “Pope” comes from Latin “Papa” and Greek “Papas” for Daddy. His position is designed to last for the rest of his life on earth. \u00a0This tradition began with St. Peter when Jesus said to him “You are the Rock on which I build my Church.” The Pope’s job is to guide the Church in matters of faith and morality in an ever changing world.<\/p>\n

2) The Pope lives in\u00a0Vatican City<\/a>, which is its own country. Even though it is inside of Rome, it is not part of Rome. \u00a0(Cool fact: St. Peter’s square is in the shape of a key, signifying the “keys” given to St. Peter to the Kingdom of heaven).<\/p>\n

3) He is chosen from the College of Cardinals who form a\u00a0Papal Conclave<\/a>\u00a015-20 days after a Pope dies or resigns. Here\u00a0the Cardinals pray for many days together. They require a 2\/3 majority in order to elect the next Pope. They meet in the\u00a0Sistine Chapel.<\/a><\/p>\n

4) If a candidate does not receive enough votes, the Cardinals apply a chemical to their voting ballots and send black smoke out of the chimney of the Sistine Chapel. \u00a0If a candidate succeeds in obtaining enough votes, they apply a chemical to their ballots to send white smoke out of the chimney, signifying that a new Pope has been chosen. Bells ring, too!<\/p>\n

5) The winning candidate will be asked if he will accept his role as the Supreme Pontiff, and when he accepts, he chooses a new name for himself, and is lead into a room where he changes into his Papal garb for the very first time. It is then when the senior Cardinal deacon announces from St. Peter’s square the following speech:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
\n

Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum:
\nHabemus Papam!
\nEminentissimum ac reverendissimum Dominum,
\nDominum [First Name] Sanct\u00e6 Roman\u00e6 Ecclesi\u00e6 Cardinalem [Last Name],
\nQui sibi nomen imposuit [Papal Name].<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

And for those of us with rusty Latin:<\/p>\n

\n
\n

I announce to you a great joy:
\nWe have a Pope!
\nThe most eminent and most reverend Lord,
\nLord [First Name] Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church [Last Name],
\nWho takes for himself the name of [Papal Name].<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u00a0And<\/span>\u00a0the whole world cheers and celebrates, “Habemus Papam,” we have a Pope!!!! \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As we draw near the dawn of a new horizon for our Church, let us cherish all that Pope Benedict XVI has taught us, and as we continue to teach our children let us remember this:<\/p>\n

\u201cDear friends, may no adversity paralyze you. Be afraid neither of the world, nor of the future, nor of your weakness. The Lord has allowed you to live in this moment of history so that, by your faith, his name will continue to resound throughout the world.\u201d<\/i>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Pope Benedict XVI, pray for us!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Me at St. Peter’s basilica in 2005. I told you I was digging up old photos.<\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today is our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI’s last day in office. Like so many of us, my little family has been praying over the future of our Church. We have even “adopted” a cardinal for whom we are praying. We’ve been digging up old pictures of our trip to Rome, explaining the\u00a0hierarchy\u00a0of our Church… [Read More]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-38102","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-blog","7":"entry","8":"has-post-thumbnail"},"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":38606,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2013\/03\/habemus-papam-pope-francis\/","url_meta":{"origin":38102,"position":0},"title":"Habemus Papam! Pope Francis","author":"Rita Suva","date":"March 13, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"UPDATE: The following is Bishop Joe\u00a0Vasquez's press conference about our new Holy Father. Thanks to Relevant Radio and Pat Ryan! [powerpress] Original Post: At approximately 1:13pm CST on Wednesday March 13, 2013 white smoke began billowing out of the chimney atop the Sistine Chapel. Viewership online at EWTN, CatholicTV.com, Salt\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"whitesmokejpg-fe1ff1182f02a292_text","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/whitesmokejpg-fe1ff1182f02a292_text-300x210.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":37312,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2013\/02\/popewatch2013\/","url_meta":{"origin":38102,"position":1},"title":"#popewatch2013","author":"Rita Suva","date":"February 21, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"We are living in a historic time in the Catholic Church. With only two other popes having resigned before Pope Benedict XVI, we\u2019re in relatively uncharted waters concerning what will be happening in the Catholic Church in the coming weeks and months. At this point in history as Catholics, we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"pope","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/pope-108x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":39038,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2013\/04\/the-audacity-of-pope-francis\/","url_meta":{"origin":38102,"position":2},"title":"The Audacity of Pope Francis","author":"Chris Williston","date":"April 4, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"On Good Friday morning last week, I received this text message from a friend, \u201cYour new Pope is all kinds of awesome.\u201d You can probably derive from the message that my friend is not Catholic. \u00a0He read in the news about Pope Francis\u2019s Holy Thursday visit to wash the feet\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "ACNM"","block_context":{"text":"ACNM","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"francis_benedict","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/francis_benedict-630x419.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":41639,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2013\/09\/pope-francis-asking-us\/","url_meta":{"origin":38102,"position":3},"title":"What Pope Francis is Asking from Us","author":"Julia Motekaitis","date":"September 20, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"photo credit: the guardian Today I read several different excerpts from various publications of the August 2013 interview with Pope Francis from the America Magazine and tried to process the angles which were presented. \u00a0I admit, several of the Holy Father's points I found refreshingly honest and true, yet they\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Pope Francis","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/Pope-Francis-010.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":41875,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2013\/10\/pope-francis-and-parenthood\/","url_meta":{"origin":38102,"position":4},"title":"5 Things Pope Francis Can Teach Parents About Parenthood – Part 1 of 6","author":"Trey and Stephanie Cashion","date":"October 9, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Pope Francis has taught us quite a bit about parenthood. \u00a0In word and deed and in just the first six months as \"Papa\", his words and his actions have taught us and can teach any parent something about raising children. \u00a0Today, we'd like to share some of what we've learned\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Column"","block_context":{"text":"Column","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/column\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Pope Francis and Holy Spirit","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Pope-Francis-and-HS-300x221.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":57028,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2014\/11\/social-media-family-pope-franics-speaking-covenant-culture\/","url_meta":{"origin":38102,"position":5},"title":"New Media and the Family: Pope Francis speaking on Covenant Culture","author":"Rachel","date":"November 3, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Just moments after the Pope\u2019s audience with the Schoenstatt Movement in Rome, his words were reverberating in twitter and in blogs. Which words? The Pope\u2019s strong words about the state of marriage today. These clear and straightforward words were picked up quickly and passed on. The world of the media\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Faith"","block_context":{"text":"Faith","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/faith-blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Pope bringing flowers to the Mother Thrice Admirable, Queen & Victress of Schoenstatt during the Audience. 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