New technology at conclave

2005-04-14 21:05

Vatican City - Technicians were at work on Thursday on the roofs of the Vatican and inside the Sistine Chapel to protect the secrecy of the first papal conclave of the digital age, while preserving historical aspects of the vote.

Their deadline is on Monday, when 115 cardinal electors under the age of 80 - two have had to drop out because of ill health - are to gather in the Sistine Chapel to begin voting for the next pope.

Not only the media, but many world leaders are keen to learn what is happening behind the impenetrable walls of the Vatican.

The late Pope John Paul II foresaw the intense media interest in the election, having participated in the two conclaves of 1978 - his predecessor John Paul I served only 33 days.

John Paul II formally banned the introduction or use of any recording or transmitting devices in the conclave quarters.

The Turin daily La Stampa said the Vatican has long been protected by electromagnetic interference to prevent eavesdropping with directional microphones.

Another report said that experts have also installed protection against laser devices that can reconstruct conversations from the vibrations of windowpanes.

La Stampa said an American-made system has been selected to provide a scrambling system to protect the Santa Martha residence where the cardinals will stay between voting sessions, and to prevent all mobile telephone calls.

That includes calls out, in case any of the prelates defy the ban on taking phones into the conclave.

White smoke

While the Vatican has turned to modern technology to protect conclave secrecy, it is sticking to its traditional way of announcing the new pope - with white smoke from a chimney high above the Sistine Chapel as the ballot papers are burned in an ancient stove.

The Vatican announced the death of John Paul II by e-mail messages to news agencies and text messages to correspondents' cell phones.

But these methods approved by the late pope will not be used to inform journalists of the election of his successor.

The smoke signals, however, are of only approximate accuracy, as shown by the election of John Paul II in 1978.

On the evening of Sunday, October 15, a huge round of applause arose from about 100 000 people gathered in Saint Peter's Square in expectation of the vote.

The smoke looked white, but, while journalists on deadline risked heart seizure, Vatican Radio insisted that it was black, meaning that a new pontiff still had not been elected.

The Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano rushed out a special edition to confirm that the smoke was black.

The Vatican was doing what it could to ensure that the chimney clearly indicated white or black, with the help of smoke canisters supplied by the Italian air force and colouring agents.

But to be on the safe side this time around, it has decided to back up the white smoke signal with a peal of bells from Saint Peter's Basilica.

- AFP