Workers attach chimney pipe to Sistine Chapel

WORKERS scaled the roof of the Sistine Chapel yesterday and attached the chimney pipe from which white smoke will billow to alert the world that a new pope has been elected, as the Vatican made final preparations for Monday’s conclave.

Attached by a safety clip and cable, a worker shimmied down the tiled roof and uncapped a small top that had covered the chimney. He replaced it with a tall, thin pipe fed to him by another man standing in an opening in the chapel’s sloped roof.

Starting on Monday afternoon, the cardinals will send smoke signals from the burned ballot papers of each vote to indicate whether they have found a successor to Pope John Paul II. Black smoke means no pope has been elected, white smoke signals a new pope.