Kellie Kotraba

On Wednesday, the Cardinals of the Catholic church elected Jorge Mario Borgeglio of Argentina to be the new pope. He’s the first pope from South America, and the first from the Jesuit order of priests. He’s also the first to choose the name Francis.

We spent part of Wednesday and Thursay at Fr. Tolton Catholic High School in Columbia to find out what some of Columbia's young Catholics think of the new pope. 

Like many other people, Corrine Hubbard admires his humility.

Update 4:04PM: The pope has been named.  76-year-old Jorge Bergoglio, a cardinal from Argentina.  He has chosen the name Pope Francis I.  NPR has the full story here.

White smoke rose in Rome on Wednesday, signaling the election of a new pope.  

Community and campus converge in the cast of MU's production of "The Amen Corner," a play by James Baldwin that finishes its run this weekend. 

The play tells the story of an African-American woman who starts a small storefront church in Harlem in 1965. She's recently migrated there from the south with her 18-year-old son, who plays the church piano.

This story is part of True/False Conversations, a series of in-depth interviews with the filmmakers of this year’s True/False Festival.  Find the rest of them here or download the podcast on iTunes.

Fr. Thomas Saucier was on his way to the gym when a friend asked if he had heard the news: Pope Benedict XVI had announced his resignation. 

He learned more of the details during his workout.

"I'm doing my machine, and on all the networks, that's what they're telecasting," he said. 

Like most other people, Saucier was shocked. 

Awareness of death can lead people to strengthen and defend their own religious beliefs, according to a recent psychological study led by MU researcher Kenneth Vail. 

And that doesn't just apply to those who believe in a higher power already.  

The foundation of Vail's researcg comes from the idea that part of the motivation for religious belief is the awareness of death – an idea that has deep philosophical roots, Vail said. Recent experimental research also points to the notion that people use belief to help manage awareness of mortality. 

Four panelists Wednesday morning reiterated arguments against MU's potential hire of former Army psychologist Larry James, who is being considered for a leadership position in the College of Education.

James is currently the dean of professional psychology at Wright State University in Ohio. But in the past, he was in a leadership position as an Army psychologist at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib. Since his role as an intelligence psychologist was during a time of intense abuse allegations, some people are concerned about his personal ethics.