Vatican resorts to signal jammers to keep Pope vote secret

Vatican resorts to signal jammers to keep Pope vote secret

The Vatican will be embracing electronic signal jammers to ensure that what happens in conclave stays in conclave.
Modern security measures also include sweeping the Sistine Chapel, which hosts the conclave, for listening devices and checking for reporters infiltrating proceedings disguised as auxiliary personnel.
 
Electronic methods to protect secrecy while in a conclave were also deployed during the election of Pope Benedict XVI and acknowledge the difficulty of maintaining a media blackout even though traditional oaths of secrecy carry the penalty of automatic excommunication from the church if broken.
 
However, Pope Benedict XVI's papacy saw the advent of Twitter which several cardinals have embraced -- including Cardinal Mahoney who has been ignoring advice to stop communicating with the media and tweeting about the pre-conclave process -- and the damaging Vatileaks scandal which saw Pope Benedict XVI's butler arrested and charged with leaking confidential documents to the media. As a result, preventing unwanted communication from within the conclave is high on the agenda.
The Vatican is no stranger to monitoring technology and is thought to have employed electronic surveillance techniques to investigate its own residents. Vatican spokesperson, Federico Lombardi, referred to speculation about email interception, acknowledging that "In the context of Vatileaks, some intercepts and checks may have been authorised by Vatican investigating magistrates."
 
A previous statement also by Lombardi confirmed that "There may have been some wiretaps and controls ordered by the investigating magistrate, but I can assure you it was not on a large scale [...] Two to three phones were tapped."
According to Vatican correspondent, John Thavis, during the 2005 conclave the signal jammer was concealed beneath the makeshift floor although it may well have been moved to a new location.