What an extraordinary time the last few weeks have been for the overwhelmingly positive media coverage the Catholic Church has enjoyed. The illness and death of Pope Francis was followed by the election of our new pope, Leo XIV. In different ways, one event fed on the other, with blanket coverage on all the major channels.

The Vatican announced the election of Pope Leo XIV shortly after white smoke blew from the roof of the Sistine Chapel on Thursday. The pope's birth name is Robert Francis Prevost. He is the first pope from the United States of America.

Hollywood and the media love intrigue. And the interregnum in the Catholic Church provides much fodder for an institution that has long resisted secularism.

President Donald Trump reacted to the selection of the new pope and leader of the Catholic Church on Thursday.

It's easy to be distracted by Trump's social media antics, which now go past the point of poor taste and have lapsed into the range of blasphemy.

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