Hey Remember that Time... a bird chose the Pope

This article is part of new feature called "Hey Remember that Time..." where we look at a piece of church history that was unusual in some way.

In the installment we look at the time a bird chose who was elected Pope.

January 10 236 Pope Fabian was elected Bishop of Rome.  There would seem no problem with the previous sentence to us in modern day, but it came as a surprise to the people of the time because of the way it happened.  Pope Fabian was not considered a frontrunner by anyone .  But during the voting a dove came and sat on his head.  The cardinals being familiar with the Gospel saw the imagery invoked in Mark “Immediately coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens opening, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him;” (Mark 1:10).  He was elected Pope and served in that capacity for until his death in 250.  

So it goes to show that sometime the Holy Spirit works in mysterious ways.