Pope Election: Austrian Involved in Shutdown of Vatican Phone Network

During the papal election starting on Wednesday, the Vatican City will deactivate all mobile and telecommunications systems to ensure that the conclave, as required by canon law, takes place under absolute secrecy.

Team led by Austrian shuts down phone network for papal election

As the head of telecommunications in the Vatican, the technician Herbert Wiesholzer from Lower Austria, along with his team, is partly responsible for this, as reported by the St. Pölten church newspaper "Kirche bunt" in its current issue according to Kathpress. From Wednesday at 3:00 PM until the official announcement of the election of a new pope from the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, the network will remain out of service, the Governorate of Vatican City announced in advance. "The shutdown affects all areas of the conclave," Wiesholzer explained in an interview with "Kirche bunt" - not only the Sistine Chapel but also the Santa Marta guesthouse and the adjacent building "Old Santa Marta."

In the two houses, the 133 cardinal electors are accommodated during the conclave. "We also had to ensure that the cardinals could phone and communicate with each other," described the St. Pölten native as the challenge. The head of telecommunications in the Vatican is responsible for the telephone and internet connections in the Vatican City with all its branches. For Wiesholzer, who has been working in Rome since 2004, this is already the third conclave.

(APA/Red)

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