4/22/2025: Papal Enclave: What’s Next?

PLUS: Crying Fowl; Paige Bueckers Day; and Meg the Plagiarist?

Today is Tuesday, April 22, 2025.

It is the 112th day of the year.

253 days remain.

Photo by Coronel Gonorrea on Unsplash

WHAT’S ON TAP

NOTABLE & NOTEWORTHY: FYRE FESTIVAL lives on! (Sort of).

JOE ROGAN mocks KATY PERRY and ALICE COOPER debuts a new single. More in SHOWBIZ.

A “Star Wars” villain gets his own spinoff series. Details in CASTING CALL.

An author accuses MEGHAN SUSSEX of ripping off her children’s book idea. Details in ROYALS.

###

POPE FRANCIS died at 7:35 am local time in the Vatican on Monday. The official death report has identified a stroke and “irreversible cardiocirculatory collapse” as the cause of death. As the world mourns, Francis’ death sets off a series of ancient traditions in the run-up to the selection of a new Head of the Catholic Church.

– The Church formally holds nine days of mourning. Francis’ body will lie in state in the Vatican leading up to the formal funeral, which according to Church rules must be held between the fourth and sixth day after death. In modern times, the pope leaves detailed funeral instructions and expects the College of Cardinals to faithfully carry them out. For Francis, he will be buried at the Santa Maria Maggiore basilica.

– The late Pope’s private quarters have been sealed. While historic concerns over robbery and looting are less a problem today, there is plenty of politicking that happens, and securing the private space ensures the privacy of Francis’ private papers and correspondence.

– Until the selection of a new Pope, the camerlengo, one of the Pope’s top deputies, is the de facto head of the Vatican. That’s Cardinal KEVIN FARRELL, an Irish-born American.

– The College of Cardinals will convene a few days after the end of the mourning period, up to 20 days after the Pope’s death, for the Papal Enclave, to begin the voting process. The succeeding Pope must receive a two-thirds majority of Cardinals present and voting. The Cardinals will hold two votes in the morning and two in the afternoon for three days, if necessary, then have the option to take a day off for prayer. The completion of each round of voting is announced to the public by burning the ballots with chemicals to produce black smoke; when the two-thirds threshold has been passed, the ballots burn white smoke.

– The longest Papal Enclave lasted for 33 months, between November 1268 and September 1271. Eventually, Pope Gregory X rose to power, though he died less than five years later. Since the twentieth century, no Papal Enclave has taken more than 5 days.

###

TARIFF TALK

– China’s Commerce Ministry is deploying its own negotiators around the world to push back on the United States’ push to reinvent the global trade scheme. A spokesman for the agency said in an ominous statement Monday, “Appeasement does not bring peace, and compromise does not earn respect,” in a warning to countries negotiating with the US. In a nod to China’s own sense of global supremacy, the statement continued, “China firmly opposes any party reaching a deal at the expense of China’s interests. If such a situation arises, China will not accept it and will resolutely take reciprocal countermeasures.”

– JD VANCE visited India on Monday, laying the groundwork with Prime Minister NARENDRA MODI for new trade terms. In a statement, the leaders celebrated “significant progress” toward that goal.

###

FYRE FESTIVAL lives on – but not as a music festival … yet.

In a fittingly bizarre twist of what has been a bizarre, years-long saga, Deadline reports that the “Fyre” brand will live on as a music streaming service. SHAWN RECH, a documentary film producer who created a video streaming platform called “TruBlue,” which focuses on real crime stories, has acquired some of Fyre Festival’s intellectual property to launch a new music service.

“I needed a big name that people would remember, even if it’s attached to infamy, so that’s why I bought these [trademarks] to start the streaming network,” Rech says, adding, “This isn’t about festivals or hype — it’s about putting the power of music discovery back in the hands of the fans.”

The Fyre music platform will be a place for listeners to discover new music submitted by bands and artists, instead of going through the traditional record label process – for $3.99 a month. (Or, y’know, you could just look at any of the zillions of such artists on Instagram or TikTok or YouTube or Facebook or X or Bluesky or wherever else). Rech plans to launch the new platform on Thanksgiving.

BUT WAIT: BILLY MCFARLAND still owns the rights to the Fyre brand as it pertains to music festivals, and he’s still committed to finding a new location for the second event’s second iteration. [via Deadline]

###

SHMOLLEGE: Since March 2020, the federal government has not taken action to collect on defaulted student loans. That ends on May 5.

The Department of Education reports that more than 5 MILLION borrowers haven’t made a single monthly payment in the last year. Another 4 MILLION are between three and six months delinquent.

IT GETS WORSE: Only 38% of student loan borrowers are current on their student loan debt obligation – though many who are behind are on approved deferral programs.

A division of the Treasury will be in communication with borrowers who are subject to collection in the next two weeks. [via Department of Education]

###

Police officers in Granger, Indiana had quite the fowl call last week, when they responded to a report about a turkey terrorizing a grocery store.

Perched atop a shelf, the bird attempted to elude officers, but one was able to get a hand on the bird, who began thrashing around in response.

Luckily, the hold held and with the assistance of his partner, the bird was removed from the store and released in the woods across the road.

No word how the turkey got inside. [via Fox2]

MEANWHILE, FURTHER EAST: Officers in Westchester County (just outside of NYC) were called to a car lot to wrangle up an escaped alpaca. According to the 911 call, the animal had escaped its trailer and decided to take a stroll downtown. No word on what the animal was doing in the area. [via NY Post]

###