The Election.—Voting takes place in the Sistine chapel, in which a number of small thrones, one for each cardinal, have been placed along the lateral walls for the occasion. Each throne is surmounted by a canopy which is violet in colour in the case of those cardinals created by the deceased pope, and green in the case of those created by previous popes. Immediately of ter the election has taken place, all the canopies are removed except that over the throne of the cardinal who has been elected pope. In one corner of the chapel there is placed a stove in which the masters of the ceremonies burn the voting papers immediately after each vote. The stove has a small iron pipe which passes out through one of the windows of the chapel. The smoke (sfumata) which issues from the pipe enables the crowd assembled on the Piazza of St. Peter to guess how the voting has gone ; when no candidate receives a two-thirds majority the votes are burned with wet straw so that the smoke shows black ; when a pope is elected, the votes are mixed with dry straw so that the smoke is white.
As soon as the elected cardinal has accepted the pontificate, the first cardinal deacon proceeds to the central balcony in the façade of St. Peter's, and announces to the populace the election of the
pope and the name that he has chosen. Soon afterwards the new pope himself, wearing the pontifical robes (for before the first vote took place three sets of robes of different sizes were placed in readiness in a cabinet adjoining the Sistine chapel) appears at the same balcony and gives his first benediction to the crowd assembled on the Piazza. After 187o, on account of the occupa tion of Rome by the Italian Government, Popes Leo XIII., Pius X. and Benedict XV. gave their benediction from the interior balcony of the Vatican basilica. Pius XI. returned to the older practice, and gave the benediction from the exterior balcony, stating that he did so as a token of peace towards the whole world. On the day that the election has taken place the conclave is opened and the cardinals return to their homes.
The coronation of the new pope takes place a few days later, the day being fixed by the pope himself. If the new pope does not possess episcopal rank—the last occasion on which this oc curred was the election of Gregory XVI. in 1831—the privilege of consecrating him belongs to the Cardinal Bishop of Ostia.
(E. Pu.)