VATICAN’S CHIMNEY AND STOVE INSTALLED
As the eyes
of the world are on Rome to see who will be elected as the new Pope, a stove and
chimney have been installed to use as part of the Vatican’s announcement.
The
announcement as to who will be the next head of the Catholic Church has been
long awaited since Pope Francis passed away on 21 April.
The practical
preparations are only part of the big voting round.
A conclave
consisting of 133 cardinals from around the world will get together from 7 May
to elect the new pope.
If at least
89 cardinals disagree with the proposed name, another round of voting will take
place.
The colour
of the smoke coming from the chimney will indicate whether the new pope has
been elected.
Black smoke
means the voting round was unsuccessful and a new round will have to take
place. The black smoke is from the burning of the voting ballots along with
potassium perchlorate anthracene.
If white
smoke emits from the chimney, a new pope has been chosen. The white smoke is
produced by the burning of the voting ballots mixed with potassium chlorate,
lactose and chloroform resin.
Sky News
reports that to prevent the secret deliberations from being bugged,
there will be a technology blackout to ensure the cardinals have no contact
with the outside world.
Image credit: AP News