Trifecta

The elect-the-pope stuff is kinda cool to keep an eye on - what with all the secrecy, mystery, and the black smoke / white smoke effect. But nothing beats the good old days, when there was for a while two - and then three - competing popes:

In 1378, the cardinals elected Pope Urban VI. He was not a good choice.

"I can do anything, absolutely anything I like," Urban proclaimed. This self-ordained license apparently included the torture and murder of six cardinals who dared to defy him.

Realizing they had a complete maniac on their hands, the remaining cardinals elected a new pope who promptly moved to France. Urban had no intention of budging from his throne in Rome, however. Instead, he appointed his own cardinals and ruled from there.

Now there were two duly elected popes and two colleges of cardinals -- one in France, one in Italy. It was a mess doomed to get even messier. Each side kept picking its own pope whenever a vacancy opened until finally the two conclaves of cardinals united and elected Alexander V in 1409. Only hitch was, neither of the old popes was willing to step down.

Now, with three popes on the job ...

Update: The cardinals just elected a 78-year old to be pope. Sorry, I laughed out loud. I had a dream last night where they elected a 95-year old dude.