Vatican news is reporting that there will be two smoke signals on each day of the conclave until a new Pontiff is elected. These are scheduled for around noon and 7pm Rome time. That means That in my little corner of the Earth, TV sets or laptops should be checked at 10pm AEDT and 5am AEDT each day, if there is to be any chance of seeing the announcement live.
10pm? Easy.
5am? I haven’t risen at that hour since I left the Motherhouse! A little help may be required here… Enter: Aussie Pope Alarm! Some genius employed by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference has built a system that sends a text message straight to your mobile phone if the white smoke appears. Thank you, ACBC!
Of course, the times above assume that both ballots in each morning and each afternoon session are allowed to proceed owing to the first of the two in each session being unsuccessful. If a successful election occurs on a FIRST ballot, the signals will appear at either 8.30pm AEDT or 3.30am AEDT.
So for now? It’s time to watch and pray…
Filed under: Catholic culture, Church History, conclave, internet, pope, Scripture, television
