(ANSA) - Trento, February 22 - The director of the Vatican
Museums said Friday he was "anxious" to learn when he will have
to close the Sistine Chapel for the upcoming conclave of
cardinals to elect a new pope.
"I already know I'm going to be massacred by requests and
protests, because tourists are always eager to visit it," said
Antonio Paolucci outside a conference in Trento.
The Sistine Chapel, with Michelangelo's famous frescoed
ceiling, is the setting of the conclave next month when 116
cardinals gather from around the world to name a successor to
Benedict XVI, who will formally step down next Thursday.
A date for the conclave has yet to be announced.
Rather than give his opinion on who the next pope will be,
Paolucci was consumed with making arrangements.
"I'm also going to have to close part of the Vatican
Museums," said Paolucci. "My thoughts on the election are above
all managerial and pragmatic".
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