Spotted: White smoke in Menlo Park (too!)

Spotted: White smoke in Menlo Park (too!)

About the time the new Pope was announced in Rome, Menlo Park resident Robin Tobias  caught this shot of white smoke downtown. “Just for fun!” she emailed.

Unveiling Eight Centuries of Manipulation and Crisis Behind the Conclave's White Smoke

Each papal election attracts global attention, but few people really know the underside of this process. The conclaves, opaque ritual of the designation of the sovereign pontiff, crystallize issues far beyond spirituality. For several days, dozens of cardinals find themselves cut off from the world in the Sistine Chapel in Rome, to designate the head of the Catholic Church. Officially guided by prayer, they must reach a majority of two thirds to…

Three minutes after white smoke rose from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel in Rome, the same thing happened on the roof of the mini-St. Peter's Basilica in Oudenbosch, the Netherlands. And it was even whiter than Rome's, say the volunteers who experienced a goosebump moment on Thursday evening.