To drum up interest in the historic papal election, religion teacher Jane Wagemaker assigned seventh- and eighth-grade students at Nativity of Mary Catholic school in Bloomington to research the six front-runners reportedly in line to replace Pope Benedict.
The students had to figure out whom they would vote for if they were among cardinals deciding the matter this week. They could vote for cardinals who were not among the front-runners. And they were directed to write a paragraph on the reasoning for their choice.
So did any of the 65-odd students make the right pick?
Not exactly.
Like other Catholics raptly watching the papal selection Wednesday, Wagemaker and her students were stunned to see Argentine Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio emerge as the new pope because he wasn't among the top candidates mentioned in media reports.
Initially, when the students heard the new pope was from Argentina, they got excited because one of the six front-runners was also an Argentine (Leonardo Sandri). Then they realized it was a different Argentine cardinal, Wagemaker said.
"We were disappointed in a way," said Wagemaker. "But when we saw him and we saw that he took the name Francis ... Francis is one of our top saints here. We love Francis."
"They [students] know so much about him, about how humble he was, how he helped the poor and he talked to the animals. So that was exciting for us, too, because no one has ever picked Francis before."
