The smoke that will come out of the chimney installed on the roof of the Sistine Chapel will announce the election of the new pope to the world. But the process is far from infallible.
The eyes of the world riveted on the roof of the Sistine Chapel. By a small fireplace installed specially for the conclave, smoke will escape from this Wednesday evening to inform the faithful of the result of the pontifical election.
If the smoke is black: the cardinals have failed to agree on a name, a new ballot is organized. If she is white, we have a pope.
The secular tradition of smoke has evolved over time, as is the technology used.
Shot
The conclave method to elect the popes dates back to the 13th century. Since the 15th century, these closed-door elections have all taken place in Rome (except one in Venice in 1799). The tradition of burning the cardinals’ ballots dates back to that time.
At the start, it was a question of preventing the falsification of the votes, but over time, this practice ended up being used as a signal, even if, for centuries, it simply meant that the vote had not succeeded.
During the 1823 conclave, at the Palais du Quirinal, now the seat of the Presidency of the Republic but which was then the papal residence, it had been agreed that the outside guard would draw white to announce the election of a pope, according to Javier Martinez-Brocal and José de Jesus Aguilar, authors of a reference work on the history of conclaves.
Gray smoke
The first time that white smoke was used to report the election of a pope dates back to the 1914 conclave in the Vatican sixtine chapel.
Traditionally, it is the combustion of voting bulletins in the stove installed in the Sistine Chapel which gives smoke its color. We added wet straw, tar, or later chemicals to tint the smoke in black or white.
The cast iron stove in which the cardinals always burn their ballots was used for the first time during the March 1939 conclave. It measures approximately a meter high and in the years and months of the conclaves during which it was used there are engraved. It has a lower door to light it, with a manual valve to adjust the draw, and a upper door to introduce the documents to burn.
Problem, the smoke that came out most often drew on gray. During the election of Jean-Paul I in 1978, successively black and white scrolls had sown confusion among the faithful gathered on Place Saint-Pierre.
Electronic stove
Since 2005, the Vatican has added a second electronic stove to produce smoke bombs and avoid any confusion. The Vatican says that he has been tested and that he is ready to face last minute difficulties.
“An expert technician, locked up on the sidelines of the conclave, will remain during the duration of the vote in a small technical room near the Sistine Chapel, with the Paille remote control”, according to Silvio Screpanti, deputy director of infrastructure of the City of the Vatican.
He will be “ready to intervene quickly if necessary, so that no unforeseen event hinders the famous long -awaited white smoke”.
Capricious bells
Since 2005 too, to dispel doubt, the bells of the Saint-Pierre basilica must sound at the same time as the smoke comes out to indicate to the world that the church has a new pope.
But all these precautions do not prevent the hiccups. During the 2005 conclave, smoke had first appeared Blanche on the first day, before turning black. The next day, a new greyish smoke escaped and the bells sounded. But it was only twelve noon shots.
When Benoît XVI was finally elected in the evening, white smoke came out correctly. The bells remained silent for ten minutes before ringing around.
