More fresh air at conclave, bells and smoke at end

Once cardinals were locked up like prisoners with no running water and one bathroom between five until they picked a new Pope. When they finally made a decision, they announced it with a stream of white smoke.

But when the red-clad cardinals meet this month to choose the next Pontiff, it will be a different kind of conclave.

Thanks to changes made by Pope John Paul, who died on Saturday, there will be more modern quarters, helpers to do the washing and cardinals will be allowed to move about the walled Vatican City and even stroll in its gardens.

When a new Pope is chosen, the Vatican will not just burn ballot papers but ring the great bells of St Peter's Basilica so there is no confusion among the crowds of faithful and media who will be scrutinising the sky for black or white smoke.

"This time it's a looser lock-up," Archbishop Piero Marini, the Vatican's Master of Ceremonies, said yesterday.

"Before, cardinals were shut inside, the windows were sealed, they shared bathrooms. In some ways it was easier as they were all corralled in to make a decision but there were many difficulties - the poor men couldn't get out," he said.

The spartan conditions of the conclave - from the Latin cum clave (with a key) - were imposed to force cardinals to make a decision quickly and avoid a repeat of a 13th century election that took two years, nine months and two days.

In the 21st century, they will stay in a new hotel inside the Vatican which looks out onto gardens and the back of the basilica.

They will have a short walk to the Sistine Chapel to vote and will be able to take evening strolls.

But secrecy will still be strictly policed. Cardinals may not use phones, listen to the radio, watch television or speak to anybody apart from other cardinal electors about the voting. In short, no outside influence should sway their thinking, only the Holy Spirit.

Anybody caught bugging the Sistine Chapel to get a break on the voting will be "subject to grave penalties" decided by the future pope.

Any cardinal found bribing his peers to win votes will be excommunicated or thrown out of the Church. The same fate awaits any of the cleaners, cooks, doctors or confessors serving the cardinals who communicate anything to or from the outside world.

Only cardinals below the age of 80 - there are 117 at the moment - can vote for a Pope. The conclave's start date has not yet been picked but must fall between April 17 and April 22. After the twice-daily sessions, votes are counted and if no-one has the necessary majority, the ballots are burned in a stove with an additive to make black smoke pour out of a small metal chimney on top of the Sistine Chapel.

A different additive is used to make the smoke white when a pope is chosen.

In a 1978 conclave, confusion reigned when something went wrong in the ballot burning and the smoke came out grey.

"The stove ritual will remain the same but we will try to make it work better than last time," Archbishop Marini said. "The bells will also peal out joyfully so journalists dont have any doubt."