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Vatican workers begin installing chimney atop Sistine Chapel for conclave

Vatican workers began installing the Sistine Chapel chimney ahead of the May 7 conclave, where smoke signals will announce whether a new pope has been elected.

AFP WORLD
Published May 02,2025
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Workers at the Vatican began to install a chimney on top of the Sistine Chapel to be used during the conclave that begins May 7, an AFP reporter witnessed Friday.

At the end of two sessions of voting by cardinals within the chapel, the ballots are burned in a special stove, with its chimney emitting black smoke if no one has been elected, or white smoke if there is a new pope.