VATICAN CITY (AP) — It’s a ritual as rich in tradition and symbolism as the Catholic Church can muster: secret oaths, hypnotic Gregorian chants, scarlet-decked cardinals filing through the Sistine Chapel — all while the public outside in St. Peter’s Square watches for white smoke or black to learn if it has a new pope.

Much of the ritual’s current incarnation is the work of Archbishop Piero Marini.