Daily Conclave Report 2013

Conclusion: Arrivederci Roma

Robert Royal’s final Conclave Report takes the measure of our new pope. It’s today’s The Catholic Thing column, The Devil…

Day Nine: A Spirit Who Surprises

Habemus Papam! The conclave has ended in the election of our new Holy Father, Pope Francis. Please read Robert Royal’s…

Day Eight: Dietrologia

When you cover a major news event, everyone wants to know what’s going on behind the scenes. Italians are so…

Day Seven: A Prayer for the Cardinal Electors

Monday, the final day before the conclave begins, was a reflective day. The cardinals met again and discussed various questions,…

Day Six: Timeless Skies – and Electoral Blocs

In times when a Biblical sensibility was more widespread, the weather alone the past days in Rome might have seemed…

Day Five: What “Secret” Process?

Today, Saturday, began as a day of relative quiet. The cardinal electors were asked to say Mass on Sunday, each…

Day Four: The Great Game Begins

So we finally have a starting time. Given the choice among Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of next week, the assembled…

Day Three: Time to make something happen

Remember the media frenzy over the report by three cardinals, which – allegedly – spoke of a gay “lobby” and…

Day Two: The American Non-Hour

The first sign that something was afoot today came from what did not happen. Reporters woke up in Rome on…

Day One: Roma Deserta

This is a strange season for a papal conclave. Paradoxically, there’s no one here. Despite reports that over 4000 journalists…

Welcome to Robert Royal’s Daily Conclave Report!

Bob Royal is in Rome now, ready to begin working with Raymond Arroyo and the staff at EWTN to bring…