The Color of the Smoke
FIRE! A poof of smoke appears. The crowd gathers around the chimney and a hush of oohs and ahhs are heard. Why the reaction to the smoke? There will soon be a meeting by the College of Cardinals to decide who the next poe will be. This takes place, in great secret, in the Sistine Chapel, using paper ballots. After each round of voting, the paper ballots are burned. This is done for two reasons, 1) destroy the ballots to have no record of leading candidates, 2) to inform the world of the progress of the conclave. Special chemicals are added to the ballots to produce the colors. Black smoke signifies that the college of cardinals have yet to decide on a pope. If you see white smoke, joy, a new pope has been elected. In recent times, the vatican will also ring the bells to avoid any confusion with the smoke. Whoever is elected will need to decide if he wants to accept the position.
"And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Mathew 16:18
Image courtesy of Suwit Ritjaroon at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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