One of the seals used to secure various parts of the Apostolic Palace during the 2005 Conclave.
This captivated me - it's a large board with 120 numbered holes, and a bag of small numbered balls with the names of Cardindals written on them.
For various 'jobs' inside the conclave (scrutineer, etc...) it is necessary that Cardinals be chosen by lot. Thus, the balls with the Cardinals' names on them were used to allocate these jobs by lot.
The balls also fit into the holes of the numbered board, and this was used to keep track of how many cardinals were present for voting in the Sistine Chapel.
A close-up of some of the balls. One presumes that Ratzinger and Sodano were 1 and 2 being Camerlengo and Vice-Camerlengo respectively.
I don't think I need to explain what the stove's for. I got to touch it! :D (Don't tell the curators...)
2 comments:
Actually, I think Ratzinger and Sodano were 1 and 2 because they were Dean and Vice-Dean of the College of Cardinals. Neither of them were Camerlengo.
The balls look sooooo much like a bingo set....
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