内容摘要：The ceremony cannot last more than 25 minutes because of the threat of artillery. Mourners flinch and duck for cover when his comrades fire off a gun salute.

The ceremony cannot last more than 25 minutes because of the threat of artillery. Mourners flinch and duck for cover when his comrades fire off a gun salute.

So the man chosen – and his vision and priorities – matter far beyond the Vatican.Certain Catholic monarchs had a veto on the election up until 1907. Today, voices from all quarters try to influence the debate – most obviously through the media.

At one point, Rome's Il Messaggero chided a presumed front-runner, Italian Cardinal Parolin, for "a sort of self-candidacy".Then there was a video clip of Filipino Cardinal Tagle singing John Lennon's Imagine, apparently released to dent his popularity. It went viral instead.Meanwhile, a glossy book highlighting some potential contenders is doing the rounds, lauding conservatives like Cardinal Sarah of Guinea for condemning the "contemporary evils" of abortion and the "same-sex agenda".

"There are groups in town who are trying to bang the drum on issues of interest to them," John Allen says. "The cardinals are aware of this kind of thing, they read the papers. But they will do everything they can to block it out.""Are there lobbies going on? Yes, like in every election," Ines San Martin agrees. "But it's not as loud as I thought it would be."

She argues that is partly because Pope Francis appointed so many new cardinals, including from new places.

"Fifty or sixty percent of them don't even know one another. So even if you were an outside group, trying to have an agenda, it's very hard even to pick your cardinals to begin with.""It's an absolute delight to have her working with our young people."

Judges from the RSPP have shortlisted the work to appear in the exhibition, at The Mall Galleries, from 8 May to 17 May, and will make a final decision on whether to accept it.An art gallery has reopened a section of its exhibition space following conservation work, in celebration of its 125th anniversary.

The free-to-visit Upper Gallery at Bath's Victoria Art Gallery is now open to the public after extensive conservation work was carried out to protect the Grade II-listed building.The venue houses Bath & North East Somerset Council's (BANES) collection of public artworks, and pieces by artists such as Paul Klee and Grayson Perry.