Welcome to the First Things podcast.

On this episode, we'll discuss the first days of the pontificate of Leo the 14th.

Is our long Catholic nightmare finally over?

Then we'll get a report on the Pope's brothers.

I'm joined by Editor Rusty Reno, Senior Editor Dan Hitchens,

and Associate Editor Virginia Abram. I'm Senior Editor Julia

Yost. Thanks for joining us.

I was casting my mind back to 2013 to the conclave that followed the resignation of Benedict

the 16th.

And I remember it as a time of confusion and crisis and, of course, of liberal ambition.

I've since read accounts of people who were in St. Peter's Square that night.

They say it was dark and raining, and the energy in the square was strange and pretentous.

For my part, watching it home, I keenly resented that we were having a conclave at all. I was in the re-elect Ratzinger caucus. And so when Francis came out in plain white,

spurning the regalia, and the CNN anchors said he was a Jesuit, I crawled into my bunker,

and I stayed there for 12 years. This conclave felt different to me. I was anxious about its outcome,

but it didn't feel like the apocalypse. I was in the office here at first things, and the junior

staff started shouting, white smoke, white smoke. So I rushed out of my office and started

cursing. I said, it's too soon. It was too fast. It's Perlin or Tagli. Catholicism is

abolished. But then they announced Prevost, and none of us knew what to make of that. And then he came out

in the regalia, looking more Benedict than Francis. And I started to be cautiously optimistic. And I

remained cautiously optimistic, as it seems everyone

does left, right, and center. We at first things had been saying that the Cardinals would, by which I think

...