By Mary Frances McCarthy
Herald Staff Writer
(From the issue of 4/21/05)

The eighth-graders at All Saints School in Manassas have spent the weeks since the death of Pope John Paul II not only remembering him, but also learning more about the cardinals who could possibly be named the next pope.

In a unit that was created by religion teacher Rob Tessier after the death of the pope, the students learned more about the cardinals who could be elected pope, staged a mock conclave and were tested on the material they learned. Primary resources for the class included articles by Father William Saunders and Pope John Paul II’s own writings.

Two students were elected ecclesiastics by their classmates and delivered speeches on what the most important values for the next pope would be. One student talked about the importance of having a pope who is strongly pro-life, the other thought it was important for the pope to have a strong love for young people and to be an intellectual.

The students were assigned the 22 cardinals who are most in the media and researched their lives. After constructing fact sheets including information on who the cardinals are, facts about the countries they are from and their backgrounds and the issues they are most passionate about, they interviewed each other so that the whole class could learn about each cardinal. A vote was held in class prior to last week’s conclave to narrow the candidates down to 15 cardinals.

On April 19 a room was set up with an altar and a basket for the ballots. The students were locked in the room for two hours while they held their "conclave."

Before the voting, they watched a short video on highlights of John Paul II’s papacy and news footage from 5:45 a.m. showing the black smoke in Rome.

The ballots read "Eligio in summum pontificem" — "I elect as supreme pontiff" — with room to write in the candidate’s name.

As they dropped their ballots in the basket, they said, "I call as my witness Christ the Lord who will be my judge that my vote is given to the one before God who should be elected," the same words the cardinal electors will say when they vote.

Colleen Dalton thought the new pope should come from "places where popes don’t usually come from."

"They seem a lot simpler and bring a different perspective," she said.

After two votes the candidates were narrowed to eight. After the fourth vote, it was narrowed to Cardinals Josef Ratzinger of Germany, Francis Arinze of Nigeria and Wilfred Napier of South Africa.

At this point, students were given the chance to voice their support of a candidate, or any reason against electing them.

"Arinze would be a good pope because he knows what the Church needs," said Brian Sledz. "He’s a powerful symbol for the Church in Africa," said Stephen Chan, one of the students who represented Cardinal Arinze in the "conclave."

"He’s funny and likes being with people," said Michelle Mirabel.

After another vote, it was narrowed down to Cardinals Ratzinger and Arinze. After six ballots, Cardinal Arinze won the election. A student was selected to give the elected pope his new name, and he chose Pope John Paul III.

"The students really seemed to get into it," Tessier said. "They were all very enthusiastic and took it very seriously."