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The Man Who Would Be Pope

It was 1978, I was 9 years old, and the Pope had died. Even as a Jewish kid, I was fascinated by the process: the black smoke, the white smoke, a new Pope whose term was as brief as William Henry Harrison's, and finally, another Pope, the one who passed away today.

I'm much more of a cynical, jaded creep in 2005 than I was in 1978. But I know, when they name the successor, my first thoughts will be, "This guy isn't the Pope! That other guy was the Pope. This is some papal wanna-be."