A reporter remarked to one of the cardinals getting set to elect the new pope the he wondered what the successor to Pope Francis would be like.  The cardinal answered:  We are not electing a successor to Pope Francis.  We are electing a successor to Peter the Apostle.

That puts the correct angle of vision on this.  Through a lot of different times and struggles, the followers of Jesus Christ has been electing St. Peter’s successor for a thousand years or more.  Before that, the Roman people had various ways of getting their new bishop of Rome. 

However he is named, we need to remember that we are not waiting to hear who the success or to Pope Francis might be.

We are waiting to see who the most recent successor to the one whom Jesus chose as the leader of His people two thousand years ago. And it’s not just a memory or an historical oddity.  It’s the sign that the Church continues to be as God Almighty wishes it to be.