"Big Dance" 2.0 – Amid Beltway Traffic, "Arch Madness" Returns

If only this scribe had a dime for every time one of this readership asked about the ongoing vacancy in Washington over these weeks, Whispers would be solvent into the next Holy Year – that is, 2025.

To be sure, that's a figurative line.

Still, almost six months into the singular move that'll define Pope Francis' stewardship of the Stateside Church, the process at hand has been nothing short of fascinating.

Lest anybody forgot, again, It's. A. Process. – even now, with tensions spiking in the capital and all sorts of variables in play on the broader front, all anyone can see is a snapshot.

Nonetheless, when Rome sends lemons, the Church is called to make lemonade – and indeed, in this, the press can have a role of leadership.

In that light, given the unexpectedly long wait for the succession of two cardinals historically laid low by this season of scandal – a delay which has turned the locals increasingly impatient – keeping with the secular "holiday" at hand, a prior shining moment has suddenly found an encore....

But this time, only bigger:

As this bracket is the fruit of a boatload of context and confidences gathered over these last several months, all thanks to the Particular Congregation who've guided Whispers' reporting to this point...

Yet in the hopes of "landing the plane," as ever, the budget to get there is in your hands:

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