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The Mass before the conclave, the homily, the procession of cardinals into the Sistine Chapel, and the command "extra omnes" ("everyone out" — except the Cardinals). Steve Inskeep speaks with NPR's Sylvia Poggioli about the papal conclave.

As the conclave to select a new pope gets under way at the Vatican, what do American Catholics want from the next pontiff? Renee Montagne speaks with Greg Smith of the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life about their most recent survey.

Easter's coming up — a special time of year for fast-food ads pitching their fish offerings. Arby's, Burger King and regional chains like Carl's Jr. are trying to net hungry Catholic customers who've given up meat for Lent.

Mr. Stubbs (his tail was bitten off years ago) was taken in by the Phoenix Herpetological Society. There, The Arizona Republic reports, an orthopedic care specialist realized a silicone tail could be designed for him. Now, Mr. Stubbs sports a $6,000 prosthetic.

Mexico's new president, Enrique Peña Nieto, has been in office for three months, and despite his claims that he's fighting drug violence with a new strategy, there are no signs the situation is any better. The president prefers to focus on Mexico's economic potential and has been touring the country, giving pep talks wherever he goes.

The task of choosing the next pope falls to 115 red-robed cardinals, known by the faithful as the "princes" of the Catholic Church. Their average age is 72 — and they are all men. We examine how they came to have this massive responsibility, and how some Catholics resent their exclusive monopoly over electing pontiffs.

For only the second time ever, the Securities and Exchange Commission is charging a state with fraud, for allegedly misleading investors about the health of its pension funds. The SEC says the state of Illinois did not properly inform investors that its pension funds were significantly underfunded when selling bonds from 2005 to 2009. This is the latest fiscal black eye for a state with a pension shortfall approaching a whopping $100 billion. The state has agreed to settle the charges.

Journalist Susan Spencer-Wendel was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease in 2011. In her new memoir, Until I Say Good-Bye, she describes a year spent living with the disease but devoted to joy: traveling, visiting friends and family, and accepting her fate with grace.

Herbert Gronemeyer, the best-selling German recording artist of all time, has compiled English versions of his greatest hits for his first U.S. release, I Walk.

For their popular podcast, two longtime friends sit down at a kitchen table and share little-known anecdotes and historical facts about New York. Its bare-bones production hasn't hurt its popularity — it's been downloaded 5 million times in the past five years.