When eligible cardinals of the Catholic Church gather to vote for a new pope, they follow centuries of tradition and rigid procedure designed to ensure no news is leaked. The only public display -- the black smoke for no consensus, white smoke to signify a pope has been chosen -- is not as reliable, however. "It's never worked all that well," says the Rev. Thomas J. Reese of the National Catholic Reporter. "I wish they'd test it and make sure it works before they go into the conclave, because last time the smoke came out gray. Everybody was [asking], 'Is it white? Is it black?' "