| MATTHEW LYNCH,
EXECUTIVE EDITOR |
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Beginning tomorrow, the eyes of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, and perhaps a few more casual observers, will turn to Rome, where the Church’s cardinals will elect a pope to succeed Pope Francis, who died last month at age 88. Taking stock of what’s at stake at the secretive meetings, Paul Elie, who’s written about the Holy See for Vanity Fair for more than a decade, looks to one of the last major gatherings of the Church’s elite, how it encapsulated Francis’s tenure, and what may come next. Elsewhere, longtime Vanity Fair editor David Friend takes a deeper look at one of the most recognizable war photographs in history, the so-called “Napalm Girl” image from the Vietnam War—and the continuing controversy of its authorship. |
The Synod on Synodality—an oddly named gathering in Rome over two Octobers in 2023 and 2024—was an exercise in collective listening, centered on monthlong meetings of several hundred attendees, and was one of Pope Francis’s main efforts to carry out his vision for the Roman Catholic Church. James Martin, a Jesuit priest, best-selling author, adviser to the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication, and delegate at the synod, snapped a photo “on the fly” on the final day in the Paul VI Audience Hall. Described as a “Renaissance tableau” by Martin, Paul Elie inquires about the figures in the photo and the mood in the room, and notes how it will contrast with the upcoming conclave. |
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