May 18, 2013
VATICAN CITY (AP) - The specter of an inconclusive first few rounds of secret balloting remains high as cardinals prepare to enter the conclave to elect a new pope on Tuesday.
The Vatican is seeking to quash speculation that divisions among cardinals could drag out the gathering. A Vatican spokesman stresses that no conclave over the past century has dragged on for more than five days.
Meanwhile, preparations for the voting that will lead to a new pope are continuing apace at the Vatican.
Firefighters on Saturday, installed the Sistine Chapel chimney that will tell the world when a decision has been reached.
Elsewhere, officials took steps to definitively end Benedict XVI's pontificate, destroying his fisherman's ring and the personal seals and stamps he used for official papers.
