Word: interregnum
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...does when any Pope dies, the work of the Curia last week came to an abrupt halt. All the officials so recently reappointed by John Paul were again suspended; in the last papal interregnum Camerlengo Villot was so strict that one Cardinal who came by his old office was asked to leave immediately. One other traditional rite will not occur this time. A dead Pope's papal ring is ceremonially smashed; historically, the purpose was to prevent forgeries. But John Paul's papal ring will not be smashed?because there had not yet been time to mint...
Certain other non-Italians may stand a better chance. France's Jean Cardinal Villot, 72, as camerlengo during the papal interregnum, has become suddenly more visible than he ever was as Secretary of State. Though austere in style, Villot is an approachable, sensible moderate, whom Paul might have listened to more carefully: he warned that a divorce referendum in Italy would result in a resounding defeat for the church, which is precisely what happened. It is, however, unlikely that any Cardinal from a major Western nation, such as France, West Germany or, above all, the U.S., would be chosen...
...fact is that Jimmy Carter and his entourage bore the Washington press corps," Hess writes in the Washington Post. "Reporters in the capital have had a steady diet of excitement in recent years-with the exception of the brief Ford interregnum-and have come to require bigger and bigger doses of news intoxicants." Certainly neither Vance nor Brzezinski is as fascinating as Kissinger (their side comments are never as memorable as his), and Carter isn't as outlandish as Lyndon Johnson or as malignant as Nixon. What to do then...
...Neither Catherine nor Potemkin has any clear policy about the American Revolution, because their main concern at this time is their troublesome neighbor Turkey. If Potemkin remains in power, he will probably continue his aggressive policy toward the Turks, but if he falls, there would be a kind of interregnum while rival courtiers vie for his powers...
...nicely staged mass confusion, in which allegiances and beliefs switch with a rapidity befitting Ionesco and the theater of the Absurd. This play is full of characters constantly theorizing and grappling with themselves on stage. It is here that a political theme begins to emerge that of interregnum Poland intellectualizing, searching itself, and finally resisting outside aggression...