Althouse: "The chimney – a simple, skinny copper pipe – was installed by firefighters Saturday morning."

March 9, 2013

"The chimney – a simple, skinny copper pipe – was installed by firefighters Saturday morning."

"It runs up the wall and out one of the chapel’s windows. The tiny smokestack on the roof is visible to tourists and pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square."

So now, not only are tourists who want to tromp through the White House thwarted, they can't get into the Sistine Chapel either.

28 comments:

Curious George said...: That's okay, you can still play Pope Madness.; 3/9/13, 12:12 PM
edutcher said...: The Church has a much better excuse.; 3/9/13, 12:16 PM
edutcher said...: PS Love it, Curious.; 3/9/13, 12:17 PM
Rob said...: The sequester cuts deep.; 3/9/13, 12:23 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Althouse is on fire.; 3/9/13, 12:43 PM
Anonymous said...: I remember visiting the Sistine Chapel some years ago and finding it so crowded that it was more or less impossible to get a good look at things.

Peter; 3/9/13, 12:51 PM
Anonymous said...: Althouse,

Since you are a visual blogger, it's time to repost the
Virtual Sistine Chapel:; 3/9/13, 12:54 PM
campy said...: Althouse is on fire.

What color is her smoke?; 3/9/13, 12:57 PM
Sorun said...: I wonder how the Cardinals pass the time in there. Lots of waiting.; 3/9/13, 1:02 PM
Bender said...: More than five million people go through the Vatican Museums, including Cappella Sistina.

For all those who complain about how extravegant the Church is, it should be noted that the budget for the Holy See is less than $400 million in spending per year. That's MILLION, with an "M", for the entire year.

My local government (Arlington County, Virginia) spends three times as much.

Revenues are usually fairly in line with spending. However, in 2011, the last year for which figures are available, there was a deficit of about $18 million. (Total expenditures for the Holy See in 2011 were 263.7 million euros ($326.4 million) with 248.8 million euros ($308 million) in revenues.); 3/9/13, 1:04 PM
Astro said...: I think it would be great if the Koch brothers would offer to sponsor the White House tours. If they volunteered to cover the costs during the sequestration period -- that would be cool.; 3/9/13, 1:10 PM
G Joubert said...: ironrailsironweights:

And too dark and dinghy too to see paintings. They explained it had to be way because light degraded the paintings over time. So no photo flashes either.; 3/9/13, 1:15 PM
Bruce Hayden said...: Kid last year had maybe 36 hours in Italy/Rome and was proud of the fact that they had (accidentally) walked around an entire country in maybe an hour. And then got the museum and Sistene, etc. Outside theVatican, nothing runs on time, but being late to the airport wasn't fatal since the plane was late too.

My guess is that the Sistene Chapel will be open again long before the White House. We shall see.; 3/9/13, 1:19 PM
campy said...: So no photo flashes either.

I was there last fall. No photography allowed, period.; 3/9/13, 1:20 PM
Bender said...: I wonder how the Cardinals pass the time in there. Lots of waiting.

Once the conclave begins on Tuesday, there will be one vote that afternoon. Thereafter, two votes in the mornings and two votes in the afternoons.

During this time, there are no speeches, no campaigning. There is instead prayerful silence in the conclave. The only sound is when each Cardinal elector walks up to the altar before Michelangelo's Last Judgment to deliver his ballot --
Each Cardinal elector, in order of precedence, having completed and folded his ballot, holds it up so that it can be seen and carries it to the altar, at which the Scrutineers stand and upon which there is placed a receptacle, covered by a plate, for receiving the ballots. Having reached the altar, the Cardinal elector says aloud the words of the following oath: "I call as my witness Christ the Lord who will be my judge, that my vote is given to the one who before God I think should be elected." He then places the ballot on the plate, with which he drops it into the receptacle. Having done this, he bows to the altar and returns to his place.
--Universi Dominici Gregis, 66; 3/9/13, 1:21 PM
edutcher said...: campy said...

Althouse is on fire.

What color is her smoke?

Depends.

If you're going by her femininity, pink.

If you're going by her Constitutionality, red, white, and blue.; 3/9/13, 1:22 PM
lemondog said...: re: Pope Madness Vegas odds, why is there the African/N America Regional w/USA cleric and the separate Tri-State regional w/American clerics?; 3/9/13, 1:26 PM
Renee said...: Take a virtual tour of the Chapel; 3/9/13, 1:30 PM
traditionalguy said...: A Catholic Priest explained to me that the ballots are taken like a political convention and each time a ballot falls short of a needed number, then the paper ballots are burned so that no evidence exists of who voted for whom.

But every time the early rounds ballots are burned a substance is added to the fire to make the smoke black.

When they have a winner then the ballots are burned giving off a normal white smoke.

Let's hope they haven't gotten any instructions by AlGore.; 3/9/13, 1:34 PM
Bender said...: A Catholic Priest explained to me that the ballots are taken like a political convention

Then he didn't know what the hell he was talking about. The conclave is expressly NOT like a political convention.

81. The Cardinal electors shall further abstain from any form of pact, agreement, promise or other commitment of any kind which could oblige them to give or deny their vote to a person or persons. If this were in fact done, even under oath, I decree that such a commitment shall be null and void and that no one shall be bound to observe it; and I hereby impose the penalty of excommunication latae sententiae upon those who violate this prohibition. It is not my intention however to forbid, during the period in which the See is vacant, the exchange of views concerning the election.

82. I likewise forbid the Cardinals before the election to enter into any stipulations, committing themselves of common accord to a certain course of action should one of them be elevated to the Pontificate. These promises too, should any in fact be made, even under oath, I also declare null and void.

83. With the same insistence shown by my Predecessors, I earnestly exhort the Cardinal electors not to allow themselves to be guided, in choosing the Pope, by friendship or aversion, or to be influenced by favour or personal relationships towards anyone, or to be constrained by the interference of persons in authority or by pressure groups, by the suggestions of the mass media, or by force, fear or the pursuit of popularity. Rather, having before their eyes solely the glory of God and the good of the Church, and having prayed for divine assistance, they shall give their vote to the person, even outside the College of Cardinals, who in their judgment is most suited to govern the universal Church in a fruitful and beneficial way.
--Universi Dominici Gregis

I know that the media like to portray this as a political process, but it is not.; 3/9/13, 1:39 PM
lemondog said...: re: Pope Madness Vegas odds, why is there the African/N America Regional w/USA cleric and the separate Tri-State regional w/American clerics?

In response to me, the Tri-State regional is a joke.... :-O; 3/9/13, 1:48 PM
Ruth Anne Adams said...: This has been making the rounds in the Catholic homeschooling circles. Monty Python aficionados may like it, too.; 3/9/13, 1:52 PM
Phil 314 said...: In a related matter National Review Online has become Pope-obsessed. Why are conservative so concerned about the election of a new pope?; 3/9/13, 1:57 PM
Ruth Anne Adams said...: This is making the rounds among Catholic homeschoolers. Bonus if you like Monty Python.; 3/9/13, 2:06 PM
traditionalguy said...: The Church traditions on getting a job or a promotion are a catch 22.

Traditions in the Church are that a man of God cannot get a job or promotion if he applies for it. Applying for it is not humble enough. His approach to the job needs a Maundy Thursday air. Which is a reason the Phillipino may get the job.; 3/9/13, 2:10 PM
chickelit said...: @Ruth Anne: Very good link!; 3/9/13, 4:13 PM
Fr Martin Fox said...: For those who visit Rome, or who visit other very popular sites, I suggest you do the following:

> Read a good deal about the site before you go. Become familiar with the history of it, and the artwork (if there is artwork) that you will see.

> Study images of the artwork--such as the artwork in the Sistine Chapel and the churches in Rome.

I say this, because: when the time comes to stand before these awesome sights, you won't have the time you'd like. Pressing forward, behind you, will be thousands more who want to see. You won't be able to study what you see. You will simply be able to see.; 3/9/13, 9:20 PM
meep said...: real response to why NRO is pope-obsessed:

For the same reason Ed Morrisey at Hot Air is also into this: a good number of them are Catholic. The ones I've been seeing at NRO writing about the Benedict, the conclave, etc., are Catholic.

Yes, I do wonder about the non-Catholics getting obsessed with the pope pick, but it's not that difficult to understand that Catholics would be really into it.; 3/10/13, 7:42 AM