Los Angeles Times
(TNS)
VATICAN CITY _ The chimney is up, the tourists are out and the cardinals are on deck.
Final preparations were under way Saturday in the Sistine Chapel for the conclave of prelates who will elect a new pope to head the Roman Catholic Church.
Journalists were given a look inside the famed chapel where the red-hatted cardinals, the "princes" of the church, will begin their secret proceedings Tuesday to try to settle on a new leader from within their ranks.
At the back of the frescoed interior sat the pair of stoves that will be the 115 cardinals' only form of communication with the outside world. Ballots will be burned in one stove and special coloring chemicals in the other, their fumes mixing in a combined duct to create black smoke to signal an inconclusive vote and white puffs to declare when a pope has been elected.
The chimney, a simple skinny copper pipe, was installed by firefighters Saturday morning. It runs up the wall and out one of the chapel's windows. The tiny smokestack on the roof is visible to tourists and pilgrims in St. Peter's Square.
The second stove for the chemicals was added only during the last conclave in 2005, when now-retired Pope Benedict XVI was elected, to help eager spectators avoid confusion over the color of the smoke. As added confirmation when a pope is chosen, the bells of St. Peter's Basilica will ring.
Workers were busy Saturday setting up the chairs and tables where the cardinals will sit in order of seniority. A false floor has been laid above the chapel's regular floor to provide the cardinals, some of them in their late 70s, an even surface on which to walk forward to cast their secret ballots.
Tourists had been banned from the chapel, one of the most-visited sites in Rome and the Vatican. Workers are also sweeping the interior for any bugging devices that would compromise the oath of secrecy the cardinals will swear when the conclave begins.
On Saturday, the cardinals held another in their series of pre-conclave meetings to discuss issues facing the church, particularly how the Vatican is governed, and to size up potential, if undeclared, candidates to succeed Benedict. They are scheduled to have another meeting Monday.
Then Tuesday morning, the cardinals will begin moving into accommodations on the Vatican grounds before attending Mass in St. Peter's Basilica. They will convene their conclave and cast their first vote that afternoon in an atmosphere of prayer and deliberation, with no speeches allowed.
In preparation for a new occupant of the throne of St. Peter, Vatican officials have now defaced the ring worn by Benedict so that it can no longer be used as an official seal, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said.
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(Special correspondent Tom Kington contributed to this report.)
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