Patrick Madrid took us on a mini-Vatican science class today. If you’ve ever wondered how the smoke in a papal conclave works, you need to listen in!
White Smoke = We Have a Pope!
First things first: when a new pope is chosen and he accepts the job (yes, acceptance is key… no forced papacies here), you get the famous white smoke from the Sistine Chapel chimney.
White Smoke Recipe:
-Potassium chlorate
-Lactose (yes, milk sugar)
-Rosin (resin from pine trees)
Mix all that up and you get a clean-burning white smoke that’s crystal clear to the crowd: Habemus Papam!
Black Smoke = No New Pope Yet!
When no Pope is chosen, you’ll see the rise of black smoke. To make that bold, unmistakable smoke signal, the Vatican mixes:
-Potassium perchlorate
-Anthracene
-Sulfur (yep, good ol’ stinky sulfur)
🧾 And What’s Burning, Anyway?
The ballots! Each vote is handwritten and collected. Then they:
-Thread the ballots together (no ballot left behind!)
-Burn them after each round
Before modern chemistry came along (this change happened in 2005), they used to just burn the ballots with wet straw. That gave off black smoke (but sometimes a little gray), which was confusing. Hence, the Vatican change the formula!
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