Vatican City (AP) – Conclave preparations has find a new pope Accelerated Friday with the installation of the chimney out of the Sistine Chapel which will signal the election of a successor to Pope Francis.
Vatican firefighters were seen on the roof of the Sistine Chapel installing the chimney, a key moment in the preparation of the May 7 Conclave.
After all the two voting cycles in the Sistine Chapel, the cardinal voting bulletins are burned in a special furnace to indicate the result of the outside world.
If no pope is chosen, the voting bulletins are mixed with cartridges containing potassium perchlorate, anthorane (a component of coal tar) and sulfur to produce black smoke. But if there is a winner, the ballots on fire are mixed with potassium chlorate, lactose and chloroform resin to produce white smoke.
White smoke came out of the fireplace during the fifth ballot on March 13, 2013, and Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was presented to the world as Pope Francis shortly after the loggia of the Saint-Pierre basilica.
The installation of the chimney took place while the cardinals arrived at the Vatican for another day of pre-contractual discussions on the needs of the Catholic Church in the future and the type of Pope necessary to execute it.
These consultations include all cardinals, including those over 80 years old who are not eligible to vote in the conclave itself.
In recent days, they have heard reports on the disastrous financial situation of the Vatican and have had the chance to speak individually of priorities in the future and the problems they have identified in the Pontificate of Francis.
