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By Heraldviews

In a bid to safeguard secrecy, the Vatican will deactivate all mobile-phone signals on Wednesday as cardinals gather to elect the next pope. The measure, reported by Italian state media, is designed to prevent electronic eavesdropping or unauthorised communication during the conclave. Signal jammers will be installed in the Sistine Chapel, where 133 cardinals will cast their votes for Pope Francis’s successor.

The blackout will begin at 3:00pm local time, 90 minutes before the cardinals enter the conclave, a centuries-old tradition whose name derives from the Latin cum clave ("with a key"). From Tuesday, the cardinals must surrender all electronic devices, which will be returned only once a new pontiff is chosen. Inside the chapel, they will swear an oath of "absolute and perpetual secrecy," with contact to the outside world barred except in grave emergencies approved by a panel of peers.

Though the signal block will not affect St Peter’s Square, where crowds await the famous white smoke, security has been tightened with checkpoints, metal detectors and anti-drone systems. Even Vatican staff, including electricians, plumbers and lift operators, have pledged silence and will remain on duty in isolation until the conclave ends. In an age of leaks and cyber-espionage, the church is taking no chances.