Vatican City: According to CNN, which cited Italian state media, all cell phone signals will be cut off at the Vatican on Wednesday in advance of the private meeting to choose the new pope.

According to CNN, which cited Italian news agency ANSA, the Vatican also intends to install signal jammers surrounding the Sistine Chapel to prevent electronic monitoring or communication outside the conclave, where 133 cardinals will vote to choose Pope Francis’ successor.

According to CNN, which cited Italian state broadcaster RAI on Monday, phone signals will be cut off at 3 p.m. (local time) on Wednesday, one and a half hours before the cardinals are expected to enter the Sistine Chapel to begin the papal conclave.

The Vatican said Monday that all 133 cardinals who will cast votes to choose Francis’ successor had arrived in Rome. The term “conclave,” which translates to “with key” in Latin and alludes to the way cardinals are imprisoned until a new pope is chosen, has been used for centuries to pick the head of the Catholic Church. Cardinals have delegated the job of selecting the next pope, following a convoluted procedure with origins in the Middle Ages.

According to a Vatican spokeswoman, the cardinals will be required to surrender their cell phones and other electronic devices on Tuesday. They will be given their gadgets back after the conclave is over.

On Wednesday, the cardinals will stay in the Sistine Chapel and be isolated from the outside world. Every cardinal attending the conclave will be kept in total seclusion and will swear to uphold “absolute and perpetual secrecy.”

The spokesperson assured that the signal deactivation would not affect St. Peter’s Square, where the crowd often congregates. However, according to CNN, which cited news source Corriere della Sera, security has been stepped up across St. Peter’s Square, with checks at the gates and the installation of metal detectors and anti-drone equipment in the public area.

The Sistine Chapel is completely locked down during the conclave to maintain ultimate secrecy. In 2013, they installed signal filters to prevent Francis from receiving any calls, messages, or internet access. The elevator workers, plumbers, and electricians who will maintain the Vatican’s operations during the conclave will also pledge to maintain confidentiality.

The Vatican City State Governorate issued a statement that said, “They all take an oath and will be in full-time service, staying overnight in the Vatican, without contacting their families.”

Pope Francis died on April 21, and his funeral mass was held in St. Peter’s Square on April 26. The ceremony lasted two hours and ten minutes, and the bells of St. Peter’s Basilica tolled to mark its conclusion.

As the white popemobile carrying his coffin crossed the Vatican, accompanied by motorcycles en route to the pope’s ultimate burial place, a location of his choice, sizable crowds gathered along Rome’s streets to pay their respects to Pope Francis.

Before the pontiff’s corpse arrived, bells tolled as Pope Francis’ casket was carried over the Tiber River to the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, a cathedral built in the fifth century in Rome. During his 12-year pontificate, the pope made regular trips to the Basilica of Saint Mary Major.