Sistine Chapel preparations ahead of conclave to elect new pope

Sistine Chapel preparations ahead of conclave to elect new pope

Vatican workers have installed the simple stove in the Sistine Chapel. This where ballots will be burned during the upcoming conclave to elect a new pope. The Holy See released footage Saturday of the preparations for the May 7 conclave. This includes installing the stove and a false floor in the frescoed Sistine Chapel to make it even.

The 2024 film Conclave tells the story of a papal election in which there are no obvious favourites.

For many people, it was a glimpse into the rarefied world of the Vatican, and the highly secretive process of choosing a leader for the Roman Catholic Church.

On Wednesday 7 May, life follows fiction when 134 cardinals begin the process of electing a successor to Pope Francis. As viewers of the film will know, the papal conclave takes place entirely behind the closed doors of the Sistine Chapel, beneath its world-famous Michelangelo frescoes.

Nobody outside the confines of the Vatican will know the outcome until a plume of white smoke curls from its chimney. This signifies that the Roman Catholic Church has a new leader.