White and black smoke

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Black smoke on the chimney of the Sistine Chapel, 2005
White smoke on the chimney of the Sistine Chapel , 2005

White smoke ( Latin fumus albus , Italian fumata bianca ) and black smoke ( Latin fumus niger , Italian fumata nera ) mark the results of the ballots in a papal election .

The counted ballot papers were traditionally burned together with some straw or tow in a cannon oven . Its pipe is the only connection from the conclave of the Sistine Chapel to the outside world and the chimney in the form of a copper pipe is clearly visible from St. Peter's Square . The furnace used for this has been since the conclave of 1939, from which Pius XII. emerged, always the same and, like the chimney, is only built for the conclave in the Sistine Chapel.

The election of a new Pope is signaled by white smoke, while black smoke indicates that no election was made. For this purpose, the ballot papers were either burned with damp straw or mixed with pitch or soot so that the smoke turned black. Since the 2005 conclave , a second, electrically operated oven has been used to make it easier to distinguish, and the color effect is created by chemical additives: cartridges with potassium perchlorate , anthracene and sulfur are used for black smoke, and potassium chlorate , lactose and rosin for white smoke . In addition, if the Pope is elected, the bells of St. Peter's Basilica will ring at the same time as the white smoke .

The origin of this tradition is not fully understood. However, smoke is already used as a signal for the election of the Pope in 1775 in the Roman Quirinal Palace . The smoke signal has been part of the conclave since 1878. In recent times the color of the smoke has not always been clearly legible. During the election of John Paul II in 1978 and the election of Benedict XVI. 2005 gray smoke for confusion. In the apostolic constitution Universi Dominici Gregis of 1996, which is valid as electoral order , the smoke signal is not explicitly mentioned. Therefore, it was initially questionable whether this symbol would continue to be used in an upcoming papal election. At the following conclave in 2005 , however, smoke was used as usual to announce results. For the 2013 papal election , the Vatican offered its own app as a so-called “PopeApp” for smartphone users and a webcam for internet users on the website as a web application from vatican.va in order to be able to follow the corresponding smoke signals.

The phrase white smoke is also used in a figurative sense when a solution has been found in a negotiation or - especially in media coverage - a choice has been made.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Extra omnes! , Domradio from March 12, 2013.
  2. papal election - black smoke, white smoke , dpa europeonline-magazine.eu, accessed March 14, 2013.
  3. White smoke and bells ringing. Vatican Radio, Vatican Document of April 5, 2005, accessed March 13, 2013.
  4. Vatican: Smartphone app for White Smoke on kathweb.at , accessed on March 12, 2013 (German).
  5. A bang in the Vatican Rolf Waldvogel in the blog Sprachplaudereien of the Schwäbische Zeitung from February 15, 2013.