nbc's anne thompson was there. in fact, anne, you got caught up in it briefly this morning. >> reporter: we did, indeed, brian. and, in fact, by vatican standards this was a much simpler ceremony and certainly one that was much shorter. an hour less than benedict's mass eight years ago. another change in style revealing more about this pope named francis. today pope francis preached with action as well as words. climbing out of his open air jeep to bless a disabled man, stopping to kiss children, and urging the 200,000 people in st. peter's square to be protectors of the poor, the weak, and the environment. >> i think he's going to challenge all of us to live a deeper life of faith. >> reporter: as dawn broke, eager crowds raced into the square. they saw francis receive the symbols of power -- a lamb's wool stole signifying his status as shepherd of the flock, and the papal fisherman's ring -- gold plated, not the usual solid gold. during mass to an audience that included several world leaders -- [ speaking in forei

>> anne thompson at the end of this eventful week in rome. anne, thanks. >>> on wall street here in new york today, the dow faltered just enough to break a ten-session winning streak, the longest since '96. the blue chips finished the day down around 25 points. the nasdaq lost nine points and change. s&p 500 came within two points of its all-time high yesterday slipping just slightly. >>> still ahead as we continue on a friday night, a new warning as millions of americans struggle to save for retirement and beyond. there is a new formula to make money last. and later a fighting spirit. an amazing comeback really for a lot of folks who lost nearly everything they had. >> announcer: the road to retirement, brought to you by fidelity investments. take control of your personal economy. >>> the numbers in a survey from the last year 2012 show just 14% of american workers felt they had enough money to retire comfortably. there are good reasons behind that number. americans are living longer for starters. a lot of things including health care cost mo

nbc's anne thompson remains at the vatican for us tonight following it all. anne, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. on the eve of the conclave there is no clear front runner. coalitions are forming but this is thought to be a wide open contest for the future of the catholic church. in their final meeting before the conclave, signs of collegiality disguise what some say is a growing divide among the cardinals. on one side the reformers including most americans who want to clean up the vatican bureaucracy and energize the church. versus the old guard represented by the italians. >> this is a contest between institutional maintenance and full bore evangelism. >> reporter: battles for control make rome feel like new hampshire during primary season. sunday masses took on the aura of campaign rallies with italian parishioners in each church cheering on their man. italy's newspapers speculate angelo scola of milan has the most votes, but short of what's needed for election. canada's mark ouelette heads the congregation of bishops. boston's sean o'malley

>> anne thompson at the vatican for us tonight. anne, thanks. >>> this latest winter storm that made its way across a good part of the country this week is finally blowing itself out over the northeast coastline tonight. but not before doing some pretty serious damage and leaving behind a massive amount of snow in some spots. the damage, by the way, includes some breeches and a shoreline that didn't need anymore. weather channel meteorologist eric fisher is with us tonight from plum island, mass, near the new hampshire border. eric, we've been watching that home behind you all day. >> reporter: just a sad story here, brian. it's been a battering season for winter storms in the east coast, anywhere from delaware to maine, flooding, coastal erosion, snow, they have all been calling cards. and this storm has been no exception. more than 20 inches of snow fell on parts of new england. in massachusetts, major coastal flooding as waves pounded the shoreline. this oceanfront home on plum island came off its foundation. fortunately, no one

it's where we begin tonight, starting with anne thompson, who was there for it all today. anne, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. the papal apartment is sealed, and st. peter's chair is vacant. tonight the catholic church looks for a new leader as benedict xvi pope emeritus begins his new life after a transition unlike any other in the modern church. benedict left his home to a rousing ovation. the papal staff at the vatican saying goodbye to the man they served for the last eight years. the first leg of his final journey as pope. in st. peter's square, tourists gathered around jumbotrons to watch the momentous event. >> it would be a shame to be here and miss it. >> reporter: the 85 year-old pontiff got into a helicopter to fly off into an italian sunset. as bells rang across rome. he flew over this eternal city, passed the ruins of the coliseum, where christians were persecuted 2,000 years ago. his destination, the papal retreat, castel gandolfo, 20 miles to the south, where 10,000 people waited to greet him. >> reporter: speaking without a text, benedict sa

nbc's anne thompson is at the vatican for us again tonight, anne, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, lester. pope francis told the media the church is a spiritual power, not a political one, and despite all the attention that we've paid to his election, it is christ he said who is at the center of the church, not the pope. but it is how he said what he said and what he said that is making big news. speaking without a text, pope francis lifted the veil of secrecy on the conclave, telling reporters when his election became inevitable, or in his words, dangerous, he was comforted by an old friend who said, don't forget the poor. the pope said he thought of st. francis of assisi, a man of poverty and peace, and took his name. he said he wants a poor church and a church for the poor. father bob barron says this is a shift in emphasis. >> will we get rid of st. peter's a basilica? no, but i think we might put a stress on the outreach to the poor, our own humility in presenting ourselves. >> reporter: these three seminarians are studying at the pontifical north american college. chris kirs

anne thompson at the vatican starting us off before that. thanks to you both. >>> back in this country, the tsa is taking a lot of heat for those new and relaxed rule s tht would allow knives and things like golf clubs and hockey sticks back on airplaneses. that would be a post 9/11 first. a lot of people have come out against it including flight attendants, pilots, air marshalls and some tsa screeners. the boss of the tsa was called to capitol hill today to answer for it. tom costello covers aviation for us. he's with us tonight from reagan national and one of the tsa checkpoints. tom, good evening. >> reporter: hi, brian. good evening. the tsa says it confiscates 2,000 small pocket knives like this every single day. it says it delays checkpoints, takes up time. it says they should be more stridently, more intently looking for explosives. many people say there shouldn't be a trade-off. on capitol hill today unions representing air marshalls, airline employees and flight attendants demanded the tsa drop its plan to allow small knives on boar

anne thompson, nbc news, rome. >> we heard from anne, she is okay. that's our broadcast on this thursday night. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. we hope to see you back here tomorrow night. good evening. >>> she was a breath of fresh air. in the lives of so many. >> he taught me more things than i can count, and i know that i'm not the only one here who can say that. ♪ >> an audience of thousands came out to say a final good-bye to the two officers who served and died in the line of duty. a stunning blow to a department that had not lost one officer in its 150-year history. >> good evening, and thank you for joining us. i'm jessica aguirre. >> i'm raj mathai. we want to begin was breaking fuss in san jose. police are investigating a homicide at a senior center, but there's a twist here. this man has been missing for a few weeks till now. the man was found stabbed to death at the hilton manor senior apartments on ironwood drive near the church on the hill near highway 87. george kitayama is on scene. what are investigators is tell

that was anne thompson reporting.here's word this morning president obama sent a private message to the new pontiff. now to the fiscal crisis in europe where cyprus's future in the eurozone is in doubt after the small island nation's parliament rejected the bailout deal. it included a highly unpopular tax on private savings accounts failed to collect a single yes vote. for more, let's check in with with my cube mate in cyprus. michelle, you made it. >> reporter: yeah, we made it finally after lots of delays. now it's mission critical and a search for plan b. last night the parliament roundly said we don't want to attach the deposits of the banking system here. but the situation is they still have to come up with nearly 6 billion euros. remember what the end game here. this country has gone to other european countries and said we need a total of 17 billion euro toss bail out our banks and keep our government afloat. and they said we'll give you 10 billion. you have to contribute something yourself. you know where all t

nbc's anne thompson has a quick update for us from the vatican tonight. anne, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. benedict, pope emeritus, spent his first day in retirement celebrating mass and reading messages. and as promised, we didn't see him. but what we did see is what happened here last night at the vatican when the clock struck 8:00. cardinal bertone and his aides sealed the papal apartment, locking the front door and putting a red ribbon through the door handle, securing it with a glue gun. the cardinals who will elect the next pope will spend this weekend getting to know each other. their formal meetings will begin monday morning. and one of the first things on the agenda is to pick a start date for the conclave. though campaigning is frowned upon, today posters urging for the conclave to vote for ghana's peter turkson. they're the work of street artists. turkson, we're told, had nothing to do with them. brian. >> anne thompson, thanks. >>> still ahead for us on a friday night, what is a prominent member of the kennedy family doing in

. >> ann thompson is in the square on this rainy night, but a jubilant night right now. ann, tell us where you are and what it's like right now. >> reporter: brian, i'm in the center of st. peter's square. when people realized that the smoke was white, the first thing everybody was did was hold up the cell phones and try to get a shot of it. they yelled and then they serged forward toward the basilica. we have seen all kinds of people out here. they have waited for hours in this miserable day. we see brazilian flags, french flags, american flags. i talked to three students from temple university in philadelphia. they said they just had to be here. they felt so lucky to be studying in rome at such a historic time. now we hear the bells going out. we hear some of our friends behind us. it's an exciting moment here, brian. >> if we can take the shot from ann's camera to show where ann is in the square and the fact that if we widen out, ann, it really is -- to get a sense of perspecti perspective, it's quite visible. while the sistine chapel is behind the basilica, it's quite

and before we check in with lester holt, we begin with nbc's anne thompson. anne, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. the next chapter in the history of the cathoch

nbc's ann thompson remains at the vatican for us tonight. ann, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. you know, as many as 1 million people are expected to come to pope francis' inaugural mass tomorrow morning. the crowds are expected to be huge, in part because catholics have really taken to heart this humble and spontaneous man. as you said, it's been years since catholics have seen a pope work a crowd the way he did after sunday mass. it certainly gave his security detail headaches as he went into the crowd and shook hands and kissed little kids and blessed them. but it's these spur of the moment decisions that makes tomorrow's event a must-see event in rome. today pope francis met with the head of state, an old foe, argentinian president cristina kirchner. she brought him gifts and a request that he intercede in great britain over the falkland islands. the pope opposed many social programs that kirch nerks r endorsed. she, in turn, said he had beliefs that were medieval, harking back to the inquisition. today there were no such s

anne thompson was in st. peter's square for the big moment today. anne, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. this was a surprise in a month that has been full of them. starting with pope benedict's decision to do something unheard of -- retire -- to today's choice of a cardinal from the new world.

and as nbc's anne thompson reports. >> reporter: like parrish priests around the world, pope francis started his day saying sunday mass, opting for tiny st. anna's church, where vatican workers worshipped instead of the grandeur of st. peter's. after mass, he plunged into the crowd, catching his security detail offguard. francis' casual style, already the hallmark of his papacy, delighting the faithful. inside st. peter's square, more and that 150,000 people waited for his weekly prayer and blessing. young italians singing and dancing. latin americans waving symbols of pride, especially the argentineans. speaking off the cuff -- >> bn giornio -- >> reporter: the pope talked about forgiveness, urging the people to read a book by one of the cardinals, then catching himself, saying he is not promoting the book. drawing a laugh from the crowd. >> he is a humble, holy pope to lead the church. and we are happy. >> reporter: unlike benedict, who addressed sunday crowds in several languages, francis only spoke italian. it didn't seem to matter to anyone in the square, including these three s

>> anne thompson had a great perspective today at the vatican starting off our coverage. ne, thanks. beyond the vatican, perhaps nowhere is there more joy tonight than in argentina. there was cheering for francis in the streets of buenos aires. he became a priest in his 30s and, according to his biographer, led a lifestyle that was, quote, sober and austere. lester holt also at the vatican tonight with more on the new pope. lester, good evening. >> reporter: hello, brian. be many accounts a quiet man, a simple man. his biographer said he's a little media shy. but after stepping onto the papal loggia tonight, the world is clamoring to hear more from and about pope francis. when the cardinals filed into the sistine chapel tuesday he was regarded as a long shot at best. at 76 jorge bergoglio was thought by some to be too old. if his name was unfamiliar and caught most gathered on st. peter's square by surprise, there was unabashed joy in buenos aires tonight. jorge mario bergoglio is an argentine-born son of italian immigrants, one of five children. he lost a lung to an infec

>> anne thompson at the center of attention tonight, anne, thanks. >>> there are over 1 billion catholicsldwide, somewhere between one in four, one in five americans, and this is a decidedly bad time for the catholic church. there are hopes among many that the new pope will signify a new direction. lester holt has been talking with some of those american catholics today at the vatican. lester, good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening. it's roughly 4,000 miles between vatican city and the nearest shores of the u.s. but for american catholics who often define themselves out of step with the church here, it can seem a lot farther. young american catholics on spring break in rome and witnessing their church in transition. and hopeful the new pope will take a broad view of a changing world. >> i feel like he needs to be someone who can really just be able to relate to the diversity and catholics around the world. >> reporter: the church in america is at a crossroads. the percentage of u.s. catholics has held steady at 25%. but it is largely on the strength of catholic immigrants, most of

anne thompson's here to tell us more about it. anne. >> good evening, lester.t important decision of their lives. the church is shrinking here in europe but it's growing

joining us now live from vat kin city, anne thompson and father john tunic. , i want to start with you, we get that interesting tweet. all americans can understand what opening day means but tell us more about what's happening today and ramping up to that opening day tomorrow. >> well, with all due respect to dpr greg burke, thomas, i would compare what's happening more like the run-up to a presidential primary. yesterday i spent my morning going from mass to mass listening to cardinal o'malley and then going to cardinal dolan's mass, the two americans who are considered to be possible papal candidates. and it really did have sort of that campaign feel. you had all these cameras. you had -- the pews were just jammed with people. lots of italians came to see these two american cardinals. both preached in italian and both were very true to their roots. cardinal o'malley, who has attracted a lot of attention here in rome because of his very humble appearance, he wears a robe and he wears sandals because he's a monk, and he gave a homily and it was very quiet and

nbc's ann thompson is at the vatican and joins us now. i guess it's in the ear there.atholic who is watching this, is how much of an effort the pope really made to go out amongst people, sort of touch their hands, give them blessings. really trying to convey this idea of while certainly this is a big public celebration, a lot of pomp and circumstance, that he was very much one of the people. one of them. >> well you know, i couldn't help but think of the words of st. francis ever assisi, who is his namesake and st. francis said preach often and when necessarily, use words. luke, i think that's exactly what we saw in st. peter's square. even before the mass began when the pope rode around in the open-air jeep and climbed down off the jeep and blessed the disabled man in the krod and picked up children and kissed them. you could see this kind of outreach and i think that's what's attracted catholics to this man, who they didn't know, really, especially american catholics had no idea who he was a week ago and now are just really drawn into him. because this is the first t

nbc's ann thompson and nbc news vatican analyst, george weigel. we're talking about a very different different pope from anything we've ever experienced before. what is the significance of them choosing a latin american. despite the fact that he is 76 years old or perhaps because he is 76 years old and satisfied the old guard as well as the aspirations of the diaspora. >> i was talking to cardinal timothy dolan, the archbishop of new york. i said why did you choose former bish bishop bergoglio to be the pope? they believe this man, given his track record in buenos aires can do this. he is an honest man, an outsider and that was also very important to them. can he come in here, he understands it from their perspective. being you know, being the leaders of dioceses around the world. they think he's the guy who can clean it up. he's got a big job ahead of him. >> talk about the significance of him being a jesuit. this is so special, to many of us so familiar with jesuit institutions, the jesuits by definition do not aspire to ascend to the heights of

nbc's ann thompson is live in rome and joins me now. ne of the things i learned in an internal meeting before the show was a bunch of cardinals haven't shown up yet. 12, i guess, of the 115 haven't shown up. who are they? are they from just all over the world, or is there a specific reason like some haven't shown? >> they are all from all over the world. i know it's incredible to us. it's like, what, you couldn't get here? they knew this day was coming, right? >> exactly. you know, we all knew this was happening, but there are about a dozen cardinals that are, in fact, a dozen cardinals who have yet to show up. the vatican says they can all be here by tomorrow afternoon. some of them had speaking engagements. some of them are just coming from a far distance. it's taking them a while to get here, but until all 115 cardinal electors, those are the cardinals under the age of 80 who can vote for the pope. they can't set a conclave. he gave cardinals -- you can do it, but you all have to be here to make that decision. that's what we're waitin

anne thompson live at the vatican. cloud still holds over the conclave but give us the tick tock of what to expect with march 12th. >> reporter: well, tamron, certainly the scandals that you have mentioned are part of the discussion that is going on among all the cardinals here, but the big news today as you said is the fact that we have a start date for the conclave. it is tuesday, march 12th. what will happen is in the morning there will be a mass here at st. peter's basilica. all the cardinals will participate to pray for the election of a new pontiff and tuesday afternoon going in to the sistine chapel. they will leave their blackberries, their cell phones, their computers behind. there will be an electronic jamming devices around the sistine chapel to make sure no information gets in or out. and innocent, tuesday afternoon, they will vote for a new pope. now, the magic number is 77. that is what someone has to get in order to be elected. it is basically two thirds plus one of the 115 elect terrors. if nobody reach

father baron, minister nalty and anne thompson as always. >>> the u.s. and south korea are starting a new round of military drills. about 3,000 american troops are involved. this comes amid growing tension with north korea, which today says it, quote, completely scrapped its 1953 armistice agreement that ended the korean war. north korea also cut its communications hotline at the e demille taerized border with south korea. ur mom let you take her car out. this is awesome! whoooo! you're crazy. go faster! go faster! go faster! go faster! no! stop...stop... (mom) i raised my son to be careful... hi, sweetie. hi, mom. (mom) but just to be safe... i got a subaru. (announcer) love. it's what makes a subaru a subaru. i'm maria, and i have diabetic nerve pain. i felt like my feet were going to sleep. it was like pins and needles sticking in your toes and in your feet. it progressed from there to burning like i was walking on hot coals. at that point, i knew i had to do something. when i went to see my doctor, she chose lyrica. once i started taking the lyrica,

. >> joining me now from the vatican is nbc's anne thompson, who has the lowdown on the process from or us. she has been in rome since pope benedict stepped aside to become pope emeritus. anne, explain what we're going to be seeing later this hour. >> well, first of all, thomas, let me give you a tour of st. peter's square, where i am. this is what everybody is going to be looking at for the next couple of days. see, that's the temporary chimney on top of the sistine chapel. that's where the smoke will come out, telling us if we've got a pope or if they still need to take more ballots. then as we go over here, you'll see the red grapes on what's called the loja of the blessings. that's where we will first see the new pope. and once the smoke comes out and the bells start to ring, people rush down here to st. peter's square, and there's all kinds of energy, because they want to see the new pope. before all that happens, of course, the cardinals must vote. and in about a half hour, they are going to start processing, from the pauline chapel into the sistine chapel. they will chant the l

i'm anne thompson from the vatican. >> fascinating stuff happening there. >>> still ahead, three-time olympic gold medalist and bay area native kerri walsh shows off her mom-to-be workout. >> look forward to that. >>> and caught on tape. a construction project gone very wrong. >>> coming up next -- ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] now's the time to save 5% off every day with your lowe's consumer credit card. >>> here's new video to show you. pretty compelling stuff here. a scary construction accident in oregon gone real wrong. wild video here. a crane lifting a new support structure in place at a port west of eugene. a power line gets caught. that causes the crane's arm to buckle. and it falls right into the bay. crazy scary. the good news is nobody was hurt. witnesses say right before that accident the crane operator was simply trying to untangle the structure from a power line. wow. >>> new today people accused of stealing a luxury yacht in sausalito and running it aground in pacifica will be in court. investigators still don't know how they got the 82-foot sailboat named "the darling" out of

. >> anne thompson, thanks very much. >>> as we've been reminded the conclave itself is solely for the purpose of voting. all the time for discussions will end when the cardinals file in to the sistine chapel on tuesday. so what's going on right now behind the scenes? it may determine the outcome. for some insight into these critical days before the conclave, i'm joined here now by nbc news vatican analyst george weigel. good to have you with us. >> nice to be here. >> we saw the meetings all week long. the congregations. what's happening now? are these men who meet for coffee, have dinner, talk about things? is there lobbying going on right now? >> there are coalitions forming. there are issues being discussed. there are men being measured against issues. actually a lot of praying going on right now. these cardinals take seriously what it means to step before a fresco of the last judgment -- >> and we know they're going to be in the sistine chapel closed off from the modern world but they are of the modern world. they must read the papers, they mustatch 24 hour cable news. they know h

nbc's anne thompson is at the vatican. anne, what is the latest?er: well, chris, the cardinal from poland should be in tonight, and then we're just waiting for a cardinal from vietnam and he's supposed to be here tomorrow night. so, as a result, there's still no start date for the conclave. that's when the cardinals actually go in and start to vote on the new pope. but the biggest piece of news that's really causing a buzz around here is a clamp down by the vatican on cardinals speaking to the media. one of the things that's been different today compared to 2005 is that at least among the american cardinals there's been a feeling of much more openness. this week they have held daily press briefings. they have talked about everything, such as the qualities they want in the next pope. the issues that the next pope has to address. cardinal francis george of chicago said he has to continually address the problem of clergy sex abuse. they've talked about what's going on in the meetings without violating their oaths of secrecy. in fact, it's been the hot

ann thompson is live at the vat a can for us. what did the cardinals talk about this morning? well, this is an organizational session this morning, chris. they met in the sinnod room in the pope paul vi auditorium. they learned how the translation machines work. they have devices at each seat that allows them to vote electronically. they learned how that went. there was a prayer this morning and there was a welcoming address from cardinal angelo sedano who is the dean of the college of cardinals. so then they had a coffee break this morning and we understand from chicago's cardinal george and washington, d.c.'s cardinal that that was essentially a getting to know you period. you've got to remember that almost 60% of these cardinals have been elevated just in the last eight years. so they don't know each other well. so they're trying to meet everybody, take a sense of their brother cardinals and as they deal with the issues of the church. that is what these congregations are about at this point is what is the state of the catholic church and what are the issues that need to be

. >> nbc's anne thompson is on st. peter's square right now. y of the things they will need for this vote. tell us what your impression was, what you saw. >> reporter: well, lester, they had to do some prep work to get the sistine chapel ready, and while it is one of the most gorgeous spaces in the world with this incredible artistic achievement 68 feet in the air, the frescos of mikele angelo, i can tell you that they put in a temporary floor because the floor itself is uneven and they didn't want the cardinals whose average age is 71 to trip or fall on the floor. and then those tables that they sit at, i know they look very ornate, but they're really just pieces of plywood with saw horses and then they have some fabric velcroed to them. now the cardinals sit with the chapel divided by a grate. they will sit in one area taking their ballots up to a table that stands before the last judgment, the fresco by michael angelo. then the ballots are burned on the other side of the grate. there are two stoves there. the first stove has been there since

nbc's ann thompson is in rome at her post at the vatican, and we now know the date. tell us a little bit about what happened because my understanding is that they do take votes, take informal polling every day, and until they reach the certain number, they keep going until we then see the white smoke come out. >> right. well, andrea, if we were to put this had in purely political terms, we would now call this the race for 77 because the next pope has to get 77 votes. that is two-thirds plus one, and that is what the constitution says. that is what's required for a man to be elected pope. the voting will actually start tuesday afternoon. first the cardinals will hold a mass here at st. peters to pray for the election of the new pope. then they will process into the sistine chapel, and they will take a vote. just one vote on tuesday afternoon, but after that it's two votes in the morning, two votes in the afternoon until they get to that magic -- somebody gets to that magic 77 number. if by the end of friday night nobody has gotten 77 votes, there's a day off. they tak

let's go to ann thompson at the vatican with the news. ann? >> reporter: good morning, lester.t got word from the vatican moments ago. the day will begin with all the cardinals celebrating mass here at st. peter's basilica. then, they will go into conclave, under lock and key, shut off from the rest of the world as they begin the process of voting for the upon tiff. they will take one volt on tuesday afternoon and two votes in the morning and two votes in the afternoon. the magic number here is 77. two-thirds, plus one. that's the number the next pope needs. lester? >> ann, very quickly, will they meet any time between now and then or will the conclave be the next time they sit down together? >> reporter: we know they are going to meet saturday morning and there is a possibility they could meet monday as well. >> ann thompson, the start of the conclave is next tuesday at the vatican. for now, i'm lester holt, nbc news, new york. have a good day! go. heart healthy antioxidants. helps boost brain power. probiotics for better digestion. i love this because there's no added sugar o

across america south all the way to argentina, we have two reports tonight beginning with nbc's anne thompson at the vatican. anne, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. in just 24 hours, pope francis, the former archbishop of buenos aires put his stamp on the papacy foregoing its privilege and grandeur and making it clear that despite all his other responsibilities, this pope will be a pastor. ♪ >> reporter: from his first mass francis made it clear his will be a different papacy. in his sermon delivered without notes -- [ speaking in a foreign language ] >> reporter: -- francis urged the cardinals who elected him to build the church preaching the gospel or else, he said, they