Novena Prayer for the Election of the New pope
With the dramatic stepping down of Pope Benedict, and looking forward to the Conclave to elect the new Pope, the eyes of the world media are once again on the Vatican. As Catholics it's time for both thanksgiving and intense supplication. Grateful that after the time of the giant witness of the Blessed John Paul II, the Lord indulged the Church with another holy and wise pontiff. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI was a teacher par excellence and showed us Christ in an entirely new way - even in his great act of humility of stepping down, teaching a power-hungry world the true meaning of sanctity and the inner freedom which flows from it. But now 'Sede Vecante' is here - and each Catholic is summoned to recognise that "the time of great responsibility has arrived." And it would be complacency and ungratefulness on our part if we take the Holy Spirit for granted. As Archbishop Charles Chaput says: "Christ deserves our love – a love expressed in our