“The signal will be restored after the announcement of the election of the sovereign pontiff,” said the Vatican press release, which specifies, however, that the signal cut will not concern Saint-Pierre square.
The Vatican announced this Monday, May 5 that he would cut the telephone signal inside the small city-state during the conclave to elect a new pope, without affecting Saint-Pierre square.
The office of the Presidency of the State of the State of the City of the Vatican said that “from 3 pm on May 7, all the transmission systems of the telecommunications signal for mobile phones present on the territory of the State of the City of the Vatican (…) will be deactivated”.
“The signal will be restored after the election of the sovereign pontiff,” said the press release.
133 cardinals gathered
But the signal cut will not concern Saint-Pierre square, the Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni told the press.
Pope’s death: between tradition and secret, the mysteries of the conclave
Thousands of faithful are expected on the square in front of the Saint-Pierre basilica to wait for the announcement of the successor to Pope Francis, who died on April 21.
In total, 133 cardinals from all over the world will meet in the Vatican Sistine Chapel on Wednesday to start voting for a new chief of 1.4 billion Catholics on the planet.
The election takes place in the greatest secrecy and the cardinals will have to leave their mobile phone behind them when they go into a conclave, said Matteo Bruni.
