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By: Maya Vossen-Nelson

A pope is the bishop of Rome in the Catholic religion. Catholicism took root after Jesus Christ’s death spreading across the world as his followers formed a “universal” church with a bishop of Rome holding supremacy.

The pope is seen as the successor of Saint Peter, the first apostle, and a leader in establishing the church while living out Jesus’s teachings. The pope makes decisions on faith and morality issues which are considered binding on all Catholics. Given the pope’s role in advocating on social issues, the pope holds importance on an international scale, not only as the leader of the world’s Catholic Church and as the head of the Vatican City but also as a major voice in global affairs.

After a pope dies or resigns, a new pope must be elected. The pope is chosen at the Vatican in private gatherings of cardinals called conclaves. The happenings inside the conclave are considered sacred and surrounded with secrecy. During the period of selection, all the cardinals residing in the Vatican are not permitted any contact with the outside world.

As of May 16, 2025, there are 252 cardinals and 135 of whom are cardinal electors. The cardinal electors represent all seven continents and 71 countries. When selecting a new pope the cardinal electors consider factors such as their ability to unify the church and navigate modern challenges. The cardinals debate and vote for their preferred candidate until an individual gets a two thirds majority.

Once a candidate receives a two thirds majority vote, the dean of the College of Cardinals informs the prospective pope and asks him if he accepts the position. Once the new pope accepts, the ballots of the final round of voting are burned with chemicals producing the iconic white smoke that billows from the Sistine Chapel chimney and signals the election of a new pope. This is a very ceremonious moment for Catholics and people will begin to gather to await the announcement of the new pope’s identity.

Inside the Apostolic Palace, a document will be drawn up certifying the elected cardinal has agreed to become the new pope. The voting cardinals then approach the newly elected pope and make acts of homage and obedience. Finally, the pope is taken into the Room of Tears where he chooses his papal name and is dressed in papal vestments before appearing before the city of Rome on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica.

By: Yohan Lee

Elevation Worship is a Christian band and it began in 2007 at Elevation Church. They are some of the most well known churches and worship groups. One of the most popular songs is “Praise” from the album ‘Can You Imagine?’

‘When Wind Meets Fire’ by Elevation Worship music list:

New Thing Coming
What A Miracle
Sure Been Good
Faithful Now
God Is Not Against Me
Owe You Praise
When Wind Meets Fire
Always On Time
Another One
Great Is
Easy
All Of The Sudden

For “New Things Coming” it gives like motivation because in the lyrics it says “Darkness bow down to the day. Mountains get up out of my way. Breaking out of yesterday. I got a new thing coming.” It says even though the enemy is going to come down and try to attack you, and even when you’re being attacked, you always know that tomorrow is going to be a better day and not going to be the same as yesterday.

Also in “New Things Coming”, when the lyrics say “[T]ell this giant in my face. You’re no greater than my faith.” It’s implying that even though your enemy could be bigger than you, it can’t beat your faith. If you just know that your faith is much stronger than your enemy then your enemy can’t do anything.

I think this song is pretty good. It has a lot of meaning behind it. Some of the stuff I said is not half of it.

For “What A Miracle” this song is implying that our savior is always going to love us. The lyrics that stuck out to me are “You called me from the grave and pulled me from the dirt. I love how you love me first.” For me, it says that even if you’re at your lowest point he will always somehow pull you from your lowest point to your highest point. Our savior will always love us even when we are lost.

I believe that this song is really good because it shows how our savior can still love us forever even when we did a bad deed.

For “Sure Been Good”, when the lyrics are saying “You took the mess that I was in and you have done some incredible things.” I believe that this is saying that our savior can just turn our mess and flip it to make our life better.

For “Faithful Now”, the whole song is basically you putting your faith in God and once you do he’ll do the task that is impossible for someone: like moving a mountain. If he wants that mountain to move he’ll start an earthquake. In my opinion, I really like this song because it’s catchy.

For “God Is Not Against Me”, the song is saying God will never go against us even when we make the biggest mistake. He is never going to betray you because he created us. I think this song is pretty good.

“Owe You Praise” is basically talking about how our savior has done a lot for us and he deserves our praise. Our savior will get tired but from afar it will always watch over us. I think this song is speaking the truth because after all the stuff he did for us I think he should deserve all the praise.

The “When Wind Meets Fire” song means bringing something that’s stuck in one place to another. Like imagine if the fire is all of us and we’re all stuck, but once our savior comes and touches us then we can quickly spread and move far apart. This is an opinion, but I think this is one of the best songs on this list.

“Always On Time”. This song basically is telling that our savior will always be there at our lowest and his timing is always going to be right. I like this song because it’s true. His timing is always going to be right. It could take a few minutes, a few weeks or even years, but during those times you can always learn more about him which can work or improve yourself.

“Another One” is a very good song. In the introduction it says “You do everything on purpose” which of course everything he does to us he does on purpose. It could be a test to see your faith in him or it’s just a life lesson. And in the next line it says “I’ve been praying and you’ve been working” which is saying he is working on that prayer but like again, it’s on his timing, and if he tells you about something it will happen.

“Great Is”, is another good song. This song shows how our savior can simply make something that seems impossible and just flip it. You might not know it but like everything else he does it’s on his timing. And if you have faith in him then you can trust the process.

“Easy” is a great song to show how powerful he is. Some of the lyrics are saying he can move a mountain, part seas, fight ten-thousand battles and still win and take down giants. In this song, a good lyric is “What I call impossible is easy for you”; nothing is impossible for him.

And finally, for the last song “All Of The Sudden” it tells if you just breathe him in, as in knowing or letting him in your life just a little bit, at your lowest point you’re going to feel strong all of the sudden. The strength just rushes through you and just overflows your soul.

I hope you guys will listen to one of these songs. You could even listen to a glimpse of it and it could somehow change your life. But if you do like this kind of music, I strongly recommend listening to ‘Praise’ by Elevation Worship or ‘Wake’ by Hillsong United.