My Personal Interregnum

Has anybody noticed I'm back yet?

Nope, didn't think so.

I wish I could say that the new appearance is the result of a careful market research, and a re-examination of the mission of MWBH. The fact is, I had simply outgrown the old template, and this one appeared to be sufficiently unique in my little corner of the cyber-universe. I could have done this sooner, having finally gotten someone's attention at Blogger technical support (Thanks, Christine, wherever you are!). But then one thing led to another. Finally, I bit the bullet, and in response to many requests for my return -- and in spite of the millions who didn't notice -- I have returned.

Not to say that the world stood still. Seems we have a new pope now. The election of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger should not have surprised anyone who knows better, which for once would include me. The pundits have already pontificated about it by now, but I will leave you with this article from the Italian journal L'espresso, which I believe best summarizes what we can expect from the new papacy:

Benedict XVI: The Pope and His Agenda

Sometime after my tech problems arose, I published a tribute to his predecessor entitled "Reverend Uncle": An Encomium. My friend Kathy Shaidle was kind enough to publish it for me on the day of posting on her weblog relapsed catholic. Thanks, Kath.

And speaking of looking around the Catholic blogosphere, we've got a few new players who won't appear in the St Blog's Parish Directory. But we'll give some of them a mention in due course.

In addition, I'm also writing occasionally for the culture desk of SperoNews, an interfaith news site started up about a month ago. My first entry can be found by clicking here.

Finally, there are other things that have happened, but we'll get to those soon enough. Thanks to all who inquired regarding my absence, and thanks especially to nihil obstat for not putting me on his "ZZZ" list.

And so, the journey continues. Stay tuned...