Experts say the process requires "two custom fireworks", smoke test rehearsals and Vatican firefighters on standby.

Only one voting session is permitted on the first day. After that, voting sessions occur twice in the morning and twice in ...

Vatican workers hoisted a chimney onto the roof of the Sistine Chapel, which will be used in burning the ballots for the conclave that will elect a successor to Pope Francis.

The Vatican’s age-old tradition of using smoke signals to announce the outcome of papal elections has received a modern scientific upgrade. For centuries, the faithful looked to the Sistine ...

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The pontiff’s identity will be known shortly, when he appears on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica.

When a new pope is chosen, a different combination is used to create white smoke, the traditional signal that “Habemus Papam”—we have a pope. Soon after, the newly elected pontiff is introduced to the ...

On the afternoon of Thursday, May 8, white smoke from the Sistine Chapel's chimney billowed into the sky, prompting waves of ...

Firefighters work to set a chimney on the roof of the Sistine Chapel, ahead of the conclave, at the Vatican 33,623 people played the daily Crossword recently. Can you solve it faster than others?