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Inside the Sistine Chapel, Camerlegno Carlo Ventresca declares that the Pope fathered a child. The cardinals recoil in disbelief, but Cardinal Mortati confirms the claim and reveals that he knows because he served as the Devil’s Advocate during the Pope’s election.

Mortati explains that, years earlier, the future Pope loved a young nun, but both remained committed to their vows of celibacy. Wanting a child without breaking those vows, they used artificial insemination. Mortati says this experience shaped the Pope’s affection for science, because science allowed him to become a father while remaining chaste.

Ventresca tries to defend his rage by arguing that the scandal could have destroyed the church. Mortati then reveals the truth Ventresca never heard because Ventresca fled before the Pope could explain: the Pope’s child is Carlo himself. Maria, Carlo’s mother, was the nun the Pope loved; after her death in an explosion, the Pope found the surviving Carlo and raised him as his own.

The revelation devastates Ventresca, who realizes that he killed his own father and misunderstood the Pope’s secret. Ventresca collapses on the altar in anguish while the chapel remains frozen in shock.

Vittoria Vetra tries to leave the chapel to tell the world the truth, but frightened cardinals block her, fearing that public knowledge will shatter faith in the church. Robert Langdon joins Vittoria and insists they are leaving. Mortati intervenes, grants them freedom to go, and asks to make the confession himself because the church’s failure should be exposed from within. When Mortati turns back toward the altar, Ventresca has disappeared.