Hello, good friends. Good to see you again. And yes, I just got back for my six weeks of studying

Italians, plus a little vacation on the side in France and Italy. We'll get back to regular

podcast programming next week. But before we do, in a special edition of the Bill Press Spot, I want to share with you an unexpected and incredible experience I had last week in Rome at the very end of my trip.

Even if you're not a Catholic, it's hard not to get swept up in the excitement of the election of a new Pope.

Last Thursday evening, May 8, over 100,000 people jammed into St. Peter Square in Rome,

waiting for white smoke from the Sistine Chapel to signal the election of a successor to Pope Francis, who died on Easter Monday, April 21.

And I was there in St. Peter Square. No, it's not how I planned to end my four weeks of study in

Italy. After a month of intensive Italian language classes in Bologna, I'd scheduled a quick trip down to Rome

before heading back to Washington just to see the magnificent new Caravaggio show at the Palazzo

Barbarini, which, by the way, is worth a special trip. Then Pope Francis died. Leaders of the Catholic

Church from all over the world gathered in Rome

for his funeral, and the conclave of Cardinals to elect Francis's successor was announced to begin

on May the 7th, the last day of my classes in Bologna. So suddenly, going to Rome, for me,

had a whole new focus.

And I got lucky.

Most of the crowd in St. Peter's last Thursday evening had been there for a long time.

Some waited for days to see the white smoke.

Some waited for hours.

I waited for 10 minutes.

Yep.

Arriving from Bologna by train, I checked in my hotel,

then headed right to the Vatican, made my way up to the front of the crowd as much far as I could,

...