VATICAN CITY: In addition to its Michelangelo masterpieces, the Sistine Chapel is undergoing renovations that include the construction of a chimney that will emit smoke to proclaim to the world that the Catholic Church has a new pope and a burner for burning secret votes.
According to a video posted by the Vatican press office on Saturday, work is underway within the Apostolic Palace to prepare the 13th-century chapel for the vote to choose Pope Francis’s successor.
Before arranging big tables for the 133 cardinal electors to use when casting their ballots at the conclave, the roughly five-minute video shows carpenters installing beams on scaffolding to create an elevated wooden floor.
