The stove is set up in the smoke-producing Sistine Chapel, marking the progress of Conclave’s mission to choose a new Pope.
A chimney installed above the Sistene Chapel informs the next Pope
Firefighters installed a new chimney in the Sistine Chapel. The chimney signals the outside world when a new Pope is elected.
A stove, although complicated, not an ancient tradition, has arrived at the Sistine Chapel in Rome.
In a few days they will be used to produce smoke indicating the progress of Conclave on the mission of choosing a new Pope.
Workers are preparing for the Cardinals meeting, which is scheduled to begin on May 7th, and will end with the election of the new Pope. Pope Francis passed away on April 21st at the age of 88.
Photos released by Vatican Media show two stoves, a series of chimney pipes installed inside the Systin Chapel, and workers installing chimneys on the roof.
The conclave is expected to last for several days, during which time the Cardinals may vote secretly. If a candidate for the Pope does not receive the required two-thirds of the vote, the Cardinals send black smoke and tell the world that the Pope has not yet been selected. When a new Pope is chosen, white smoke will bring the news to spectators.
This is how they do it:
The importance of black and white smoke
On the first day of Conclave, the Cardinals vote one vote. If the Pope is not chosen, they will begin again the next day and cast up to four votes each day until a new Pope is chosen. Smoke appears from the chimney twice daily, around local time and around 7pm. Black means the vote was inconclusive. White means there is a new Pope.
According to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference, at each round of votes, the Cardinals fold the vote twice and drop it into the Holy Grail. Voting is counted by the cardinals selected to record the vote.
If they are not conclusive, the votes will be placed in the stove and burn. The second stove will help you send a puff of smoke in black or white.
How is smoke created?
In the final conclave of 2013, which ended with Francis’ election, the black smoke was a mixture of potassium perchlorate, anthracene (the ingredient in coal tar), and sulfur. White smoke was produced using potassium chlorate, lactose and chloroform resins.
The New York Times reported that a once-clever recipe for smoke has been released.
Two stove use, chemicals are relatively recent
Cardinal Smoke-producing methods have evolved to the use of cartridges containing chemicals after previous disasters. In the 1958 Conclave, when black smoke was created by adding a damp straw to a burned vote, when the smoke first appeared white, the Times reported that a failed straw caused some false alarms.
After that fiasco, they tried smoke bombs, which made more vivid colors, but filled the chapel with smoke, NBC News reported. They also tried military flares and chemical additives that made the cardiac sick. The cartridge was first used in 2005.
NBC also said that the white or black smoke tradition was not particularly ancient, but dates back to the early 1900s.
Contributions: Greta Kross and Fernando Cervantes Jr., USA Today; Reuters