Sistine scrambler stops leaks
2005-04-16 21:46
Vatican City - A system has been set up to scramble any cellphone communications between the Sistine Chapel and the outside world during the secret conclave that will elect the next pope, the Vatican said Saturday.
The step is an extra precaution, since cardinals as well as Vatican personnel from medical staff to lift operators have been sworn to secrecy ahead of the conclave, which is to begin on Monday.
Vatican spokesperson Joaquin Navarro-Valls told a news conference that journalists would be able to verify for themselves during a press visit later on Saturday to the Sistine Chapel, that their cellphones will not work.
The late Pope John Paul II's 1996 apostolic constitution calls on authorities to "be especially vigilant in ensuring that there is absoultely no violation of secrecy with regard to the events occurring in the Sistine Chapel, where the voting takes place, and in the adjacent areas before, as well as during and after the voting."
It refers specifically to "audiovisual equipment for recording or transmitting".
- AFP