Secret Sistine Chapel Vote Starts as Cardinals Seek Pope
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The cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church filed into the 15th-century Sistine Chapel today to begin their secret election of a successor to retired Pope Benedict XVI.
Cardinals under the voting-age limit of 80, who total 115, entered the conclave in Rome, singing a prayer to the saints to guide their decision and kneeling under Michelangelo’s fresco of the Last Judgment. They then took a vow to keep secret any details of the age-old proceedings, with violations bringing excommunication including for support staff.