Workers attach chimney pipe to Sistine Chapel as Cardinals prepare for Monday Conclave

AP Wire (direct feed) | April 15, 2005 | Nicole Winfield

[NYer]

VATICAN CITY (AP) _ Workers scaled the roof of the Sistine Chapel on Friday and attached the chimney pipe that will bellow white smoke to alert the world that a new pope has been elected, as the Vatican made final preparations for next week's conclave.

Attached by a safety clip and cable, a worker climbed down the tiled roof and uncapped a small top that had covered the chimney. He replaced it with a tall, thin pipe fed to him by another man in dress pants and a tie who was standing in an opening in the chapel's sloped roof.

The conclave begins Monday. Starting that afternoon, the cardinals will send up smoke signals from the burned ballot papers of the vote to indicate whether they have found a successor to Pope John Paul II. Black smoke means no pope has been elected; white smoke signals a new pope.

The preparations for the balloting came as the College of Cardinals, who are running the church in the absence of a pope, held their second-to-last meeting before the conclave. Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said the 138 cardinals present spent the entire meeting discussing the problems of the church in the world. Cardinals who headed Vatican congregations and councils also discussed problems in their offices, he said.

Later Friday, housekeepers, bus drivers, technicians and other people who will have access to the cardinals during the conclave take their oath of secrecy. The list includes elevator operators who will ferry the cardinals, chefs who will cook for them, doctors who will care for them if they fall ill and priests who will hear their confessions.

The penalties for violating the oath are severe: excommunication.

AP-ES-04-15-05 0824EDT

[wideawake]

I believe the natural smoke from the ballots is white, and they add dye to make it turn black.

[Lazamataz]

NO SOCIALIST!

[Aggie Mama]

I think it used to be wet hay=black smoke, dry hay=white smoke, but I admit I don't know for sure.

[SaltyJoe]

"this is more exciting than I imagined!"

I couldn't agree more. I've been listening to Italian opera in anticipation.

For a little while, I was a bit in the dumps (and even struggling against temptations), but with some praying, Reconciliation, and the Holy Eucharist, I feel like an exploding firework!

[SolomoninSouthDakota]

"Two stoves, a new one and the original (R), sit ready for the conclave in the Vatican's Sistine Chapel, April 15, 2005."

I first thought that this new rule adding the bells now makes the "communication process" seem pretty silly. If the bells are a "sure sign", why keep going with the smoke "thingy". A little consideration though and I can see where redundancy for more assuredness is a good thing and besides, the smoke will still be an indicator that at least a vote has been taken even if a pope is not selected. That is something the absence of bell ringing would not tell.
That said, the presence of TWO stoves in the Sistine Chapel does seem ridiculous. I heat our house with one similar sized stove and I just can't figure out why they want to have two there. If the original is rusted out, take it out! Stoves are not that complicated that you would need two for redundancy.

[SolomoninSouthDakota]

"I think it used to be wet hay=black smoke, dry hay=white smoke, but I admit I don't know for sure"

I am quite confident that it has been done with chemical in at least the last couple of conclaves.
Incidentally, burning STRAW used to give off the white smoke I believe.

[Constitutions Grandchild]

The last two times, John Paul I and John Paul II I was able to watch the daily reports with black smoke, etc. It is exciting and fun. While I know this is such a holy obligation and task, it should be a joyful celebration of who we are in Christ Jesus. I hope they send up dozens of smoke signals -- maybe send out for pizza -- because with each one, we realize how far we've come to be able to celebrate our beliefs in peace and without worry that we'll be fed to the lions. I want a good person to keep Jesus' seat warm for His soon return.

[CATravelAgent]

They obviously can get a building permit faster than here in California.

[NYer]

You know its a slow news day when the media are this riveted to the installation of a smokestack.

Press photographers and news camera crews film workmen installing a new chimney on top of the Vatican's Sistine Chapel, April 15, 2005.

[dbreidenbach]

I don't know if you'll be able to see it, but Vatican TV might be carrying this over the internet.

http://www.vatican.va/news_services/television/index.htm

[Dumb_Ox]

I read the book of Shoes of the Fisherman, and thought it was pretty crummy. Besides, all the best pope fiction is in anti-papal polemics, modern and medieval.

[gridlock]

The story of the movie seems pretty silly, but apparently it does have a lot of genuine footage from inside the Vatican during a Papal Conclave. That alone makes it pretty interesting to watch.

[wideawake]

You are wrong.

Read Lord of the World by Robert Hugh Benson.

Pro-pope fiction, quite entertaining.

[Dumb_Ox]

Haven't read Benson yet. And I was especially wrong in saying that modern anti-papal polemics are better pope fiction. On further reflection, they're almost always run through the exact same Modernist Critique-o-matic(tm) essay writing tool.

[tlRCta]

Any thoughts anyone:

When a person is elected Pope, is he Pope from the time he accepts he election, or does officially become Pope when he is installed?

Also, this might be a little off-topic, but might the new Pope be crowned with a tiara, like so many before JPI?
(Here's an interesting fun fact: the last tiara made, for Pope Paul VI, is actually in America, at the Basillica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC.)

[Campion]

When a person is elected Pope, is he Pope from the time he accepts he election

Instantly.

[Trajan88]

Watching the crowd's reaction once the white smoke is visible through to the new Pope's blessing is awesome.

I cannot wait to see.

Trajan88

[OriginalChristian]

Burning the ballots is the way to permanently dispose of them. When the Church says secret ballot, it means secret ballot.

When the count is concluded, the ballots are sewn together and taken to the stove. if a pope has been elected the ballots are ignited and burned along with damp straw to produce white smoke. If the vote didn't produce a pope, the ballots are burned along with dry straw to produce black smoke.

The bell ringing is secondary and new to this conclave. Bells ringing only audibly affirms the white smoke signal. The color of the smoke is the primary indicator.

[georgevidal]

you may find a webcam here:

http://www.vatican.va/news_services/television/index.htm
(the Vatican's official television network)

or here:

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=s&u=/pope1/static

[wideawake]

Thanks!