I was kind of surprised to find that I was watching all of this with great interest. The Catholics certainly know how to stage a show, from the amazing Vatican setting, through the costumes, even to the smoke signals.
When the Cardinals went into their conclave, I was thinking that they should choose a Latin American pope, because numerically speaking Latin America has become the church's center of gravity. And I expected that they would probably choose a traditionalist. That seems to describe the new Pope Francis.
Reportedly he was surprised that he was chosen and hadn't really wanted to be pope. Paradoxically, that might be one of the better qualifications for the job. The people who were busy politicking and lining up support in hopes of getting the job were perhaps the ones least appropriate to receive it.