"The Vatican announced a system has been set up to scramble any wireless communications between the Sistine Chapel and the outside world during the secret conclave that will elect the next pope. The step is an extra precaution, since cardinals as well as Vatican personnel, medical staff and others, have been sworn to secrecy ahead of the conclave. (Source: AFP)"
Although this is somewhat amusing, I think it brings up an interesting question of trust when barriers to some types of behaviors are lowered or largerly removed. The key, I think, is that although all of the Vatican personnel and the cardinals are sworn to secrecy, the scrambling is seen as an "extra layer" of protection (or paranoia). On the other hand, sending a short text message at the right moment can be done with little or no detection even in a process as stylized as the conclave. So... the very ability to do that makes the stakes rather different - with the risk of detection lower, natural tendencies towards self-preservation are easier to overcome and it seems that the Vatican is sending an implicit message (which I do not think they intended to send): principles and promises only go so far even among the men of the cloth and those that serve them. Of course, there is always the fear of using cell phones as recording and transmitting devices with the carriers of the phones themselves unawares of such function... conspiracy theories abound.
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