The 133 cardinals voters moved this Wednesday to the Vatican to start the conclave, a closed -door meeting to elect the successor to pope Francis.
They will lock themselves up from this afternoon under the majestic frescoes of the Sistine Chapel.
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More than two weeks after the death of the Argentinian Jesuit, the 133 cardinals voters will lock themselves up from Wednesday afternoon under the majestic frescoes of the Sistine Chapel for a conclave which promises to be particularly open. They will take place around tables covered with beige and red satin tablecloths, before voting under the famous fresco of the Last Judgment of Michelangelo.
The prelates will register the name of their choice on the bulletin, under the mention “Eligo in Summum Pontificem”, which means in Latin “I elis the sovereign pontiff”. Then the folded bulletin will be placed on a silver tray, and then slipped into the ballot box.
minute per minute
black smoke in the absence of choice, white for a new pope
Before closing the Sistine Chapel doors on Wednesday afternoon, the cardinals will swear to keep absolute secret, under penalty of excommunication. They will be forbidden to communicate with the outside world as long as they have not elected a new pope.
-The Vatican announced that it would cut the telephone network inside the small city-state on Wednesday from 3 p.m. until the election, but not Place Saint-Pierre where the faithful will be massaged.
The cardinals, who will have to separate from their mobile phones, will inform the world of the progress of their work by burning their ballots to produce smoke – black in the absence of choices, white for a new pope, a ceremonial with the strong visual symbolism broadcast in mondovision.
