The eyes of many throughout the world are focused on the Vatican in Rome at the moment, as one hundred and fifteen members of the College of Cardinals deliberate in a papal conclave behind closed and locked doors to choose a new Pope.

It’s a simple matter to follow mainstream media reporting of the events for opinions and perspectives leading up to the moment when we see white smoke rather than black, and then learn who will be the new leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Roman Catholics.

But I recommend paying attention to some really authentic and passionate reporting by Roderick Vonhögen, a Catholic priest in the Archdiocese of Utrecht in The Netherlands, who has been posting a steady stream of content to his Facebook page and videos to YouTube from St Peter’s Square since the conclave began.

This morning, there was black smoke meaning no decision yet. Here’s how Father Roderick reported on that in a video he posted to YouTube a short while ago.

(If you don’t see the video embedded above, watch it at YouTube.)

Father Roderick is a podcaster from the early days of social media when he started his Catholic Insider audio podcast. I remember when I first found his podcasts and how I subsequently described him:

Father Roderick is an outstanding podcaster, a natural communicator. As he often says in his shows, no boring sermons here. So I’m sure his podcasts in the coming days will be required listening, whatever your religion.

That was on April 1, 2005 and my comments were in reference to his reporting from St Peter’s Square about a previous Pope – John Paul II, who died the next day.

Now we’re on the cusp of a new papal era and await the news of who will be the chosen one. One thing the mainstream media is very good at is breaking news so expect the announcement of who will be that chosen one on your TV, radio or online news channel.

Then tune in to Father Roderick for some insider opinion from the perspective of a podcasting priest from The Netherlands.

Related reading: Sistine Chapel secured for first post-Vatileaks conclave, reports Reuters:

For centuries the Roman Catholic Church counted on the walls of the Sistine Chapel to keep the process of electing a new pope secret. But the Vatican must now turn to an electronic arsenal in the face of tweeting cardinals and a year of crushing leaks […]