Diocese of Lake Charles seminarian Ruben Villarreal, a second-year theology student at Pontifical North American College in Rome, has been blogging for the diocese about events surrounding the selection of a new pope. Villarreal is a parishioner at St. Lawrence Catholic Church in Jefferson Davis Parish.

Excerpts from his Tuesday blog:

“The eyes of the world are on Rome, and all of its residents and visitors seem to have become very reflective about the significance of this ancient capital of the world and about the events that are unfolding here. Places such as St. Peter’s Basilica and the massive circular colonnade and piazza that stretch out in front of it can sometimes become commonplace, but in these day, they seem grander and more majestic. Now that the cardinals are sealed in the Conclave, all attention is focused on this one location.

“This renewed appreciation for the city of Rome that many are experiencing is partly because of the incredible media attention of the last couple of weeks. Thousands of media outlets have requested media passes from the Holy See, and just as many cameras and reporters gather in and around St. Peter’s Square on a daily basis. Priests and seminarians from the North American College alone have done interviews with everyone from CNN to ABC. Some were indeed surprised yesterday evening when Diane Sawyer strolled into the refectory while seminarians were having dinner!

“As the American cardinals departed the North American College for the Vatican this morning, seminarians and faculty members lined the drive of the front lawn to see them off and to cheer them on! In that moment, I was struck by the fact that cardinals around the city were leaving their various residences to head to the Vatican, just as they had left their countries or dioceses to travel to Rome. One of them, however, will not be returning. Whoever he is, he will soon be at the center of all of the media attention.

“Let us continue to pray for the cardinals and especially for the new pope!”

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For Villarreal’s complete blog, see the Lake Charles Diocese’s website at http://live.lcdiocese.org/news/1246-rome-report.html.

In this picture released by the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano

Uncredited