It’s time for another installment of Cosmic Grab Bag, AAA’s catchall collection of smaller stories that were skipped in real time, but deserve honorable celestial mention. In this issue we deal with a royal “first” in religion, a World Series outcome, a royal demotion, and a Supreme Court hearing.
They said it couldn’t be done, but on May 8th, 2025, a conclave of 133 Catholic Cardinals, largest in history, elected an American as Pope! 80% of those qualified to vote (only Cardinals under age 80 were eligible) had been elevated by Pope Francis, including the Vatican sweepstakes winner, Cardinal Robert Prevost. The conclave was also the most international in composition, with roughly two-thirds drawn from nations outside Europe, and 71 countries represented in total.
