The Sanguine Sixties

I'm not one for celebrating much on St. Patrick's Day, though I do love being Irish-American. I've been fortunate to go to Ireland three times and am planning another trip later this year.  My first time in Ireland was in 1994. I traveled with my mom, dad, sister, and two of three brothers. We stayed in an old farm house and toured around mainly the west of Ireland. My brother Jim, (Father Jim, a Catholic priest in the Diocese of Peoria) and I decided we would climb Croagh Patrick. Croagh Patrick, which means St. Patrick's stack, is a holy mountain in County in County Mayo. Legend says that St. Patrick fasted at the top of this mountain for 40 days and 40 nights. It's been a holy spot for at least 5,000 years.  Nicknamed the Reek, on the last Sunday of July hundreds of pilgrims climb the mountain. Jim and arrived a few days after this annual event, which was evidenced by the many walking sticks that were left behind.  If memory serves me, it took us about two hours ...

I remember where I was 12 years ago today. It was the middle of the day, and I was in the tv room at home for some reason, with the television on, which was unusual because I rarely watched it. CNN was on, and they announced that a new Pope had been chosen. I remember feeling underwhelmed. Even though we had arrived at this papal election by an unusual route--Pope Benedict's resignation--I thought it would probably be the same old thing. Pope Benedict was a fine scholar, who was the chair of the committee that wrote the Catechism of the Catholic Church, but I'm not sure he ever wanted to be Pope. Anyway, my expectations were pretty low but I thought I'd watch to see who the new Bishop of Rome would be. Almost immediately, I was surprised. I don't remember them saying his name, but they reported that the new pope was the first from South America. That got my attention. Then, they said that he was a Jesuit and that there had never been a Jesuit pope. Now, I was really sit...