The Latest News From Tiber Beat

Membership Ticker

You come to Mother Jones for unique journalism, and we love doing it for you—especially at a moment like this. That's really it. That's the upshot of our fall fundraising drive, and we're hoping to raise $250,000 in a much shorter than normal three-week window, by November 5, so we can keep right on doing it. Please pitch in early to help us get there.

$250,000

You come to Mother Jones for unique journalism, and we love doing it for you. That's it. That's the upshot of our fall fundraising drive, and we're hoping to raise $250,000 in a shorter than normal three-week window so we can keep right on doing it.

Fight disinformation. Get a daily recap of the facts that matter. Sign up for the free Mother Jones newsletter.

This might be my favorite sentence of the day:

The buzz around the Borgo Pio this afternoon was the pope taking the regular employee elevator today. There is an excitement here.

OMG! He took a regular elevator! He rode back to the Vatican in a bus instead of a limousine! He’s not wearing the red shoes! This is becoming like Tiger Beat for the papal set.

I don’t really begrudge Catholics their excitement over the selection of a new pope. But enough’s enough. There’s really no sign yet that Francis can—or even wants to—change the way the church is run in any significant way. Riding in an elevator sure isn’t one. After all, Jimmy Carter wore cardigans, and how far did that get him?