Sede Vacante 2013, Day 1

Here in Rome, of course, the pope is our local bishop, so as of suppertime last night we have neither.

That's a new situation for me as a Catholic. There's only been one other papal interregnum since my baptism, that of April 2005. In those days I was living in Boston and we were very happy with our local bishop, the still only recently arrived and not yet Cardinal Seán Patrick O'Malley.

Fortunately, by divine or human design (or some mysterious combination thereof; oh, the mystery of Christianity!) the friar to whom it fell to be first concelebrant for Eucharistic Prayer II this morning was not only a real Italian (though a Milanese, not a Roman) but also someone who seems pretty careful about liturgy.

And so went the beginning of the intercessions:

Ricordati, Padre, della tua Chiesa diffusa su tutta la terra:
rendila perfetta nell’amore
in unione con il nostro Papa N.,
il nostro Vescovo N., e tutto l’ordine sacerdotale.

Which, in English, would go...

Remember, Lord, your Church, spread throughout the world, 
and bring her to the fullness of charity, 
together with N. our Pope and N. our Bishop and all the clergy.