-- the ring of the fisherman, which bears the official papal seal and by vatican law must be destroyed immediately following the pope's death.
the pope's chamberlain, or "camerlengo," then seals the papal apartments ---
--- "the time of the empty throne."
following the elegy mass, the body of the pontiff, borne by the traditional twelve pall bearers will be sealed in a zinc crypt deep in the vatican grottoes along with the bodies of twenty-five other popes.
--- the pope's elegy mass, led by cardinal saverio mortati, dean of the college of cardinals ---
the college of cardinals will lock itself in the sistine chapel for conclave literally, the word means "with key" -- the process by which the church chooses a new leader for the world's one billion catholics.
-- in st. peter's square where, despite a bomb threat and order of evacuation, the crowd is actually growing in size as we await --