Cardinals will start moving into the Vatican accommodation where they will staying on the eve of the conclave set to being on Wednesday, May 7th.
133 cardinal electors will gather tomorrow in the Sistine Chapel to elect the new pope. They normally stay in the Vatican’s Santa Marta guesthouse, which has en-suite bathrooms and hotel-style room service, but there are not enough rooms for them all. Some of the cardinals will therefore be housed at Santa Marta Vecchia, a building next door usually used to accommodate Vatican officials.
The Vatican announced late on Monday that it would cut the phone signal within the city state from 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday until a new pope is elected, although this will not affect St. Peter’s Square.
The staff who will support the cardinals during the election are also bound to secrecy, and took their own oaths on Monday.
