42

Inside the Sistine Chapel, Cardinal Mortati grows increasingly anxious as conclave is set to begin in twenty minutes. The chapel is hot, the assembled cardinals are becoming openly worried, and the four preferiti remain missing despite being required to be present in order to remain eligible for election.

Mortati considers possible explanations, including whether the preferiti are still with Camerlegno Ventresca after the traditional private tea held earlier in the day. Mortati dismisses illness as unlikely because no serious candidate would willingly miss the conclave. He reflects that Cardinal Aldo Baggia of Milan is the clear favorite to become the next Pope because of his spotless service, language skills, and spiritual authority.

The chapter explains Mortati’s position as the Great Elector, the cardinal chosen to oversee the conclave’s internal procedures. Although the role is an honor, it makes Mortati ineligible for election and burdens him with ensuring every ritual follows Vatican law. Mortati accepts the duty because he is the senior cardinal and was close to the late Pope, though his age and broad-minded views already made him an unlikely papal candidate.

Mortati thinks about the late Pope’s unexpectedly liberal stance toward science, which drew criticism from both conservative Catholics and scientific purists. He also reflects on the camerlegno, whom many cardinals distrust as too young and too close to the late Pope, but whom Mortati admires as sincere, faithful, and free of political ambition.

An unnamed cardinal presses Mortati for answers about the missing preferiti and suggests the camerlegno may have lost track of time. Mortati doubts this but can offer no solution beyond waiting and having faith. Left with his worry, Mortati looks up at Michelangelo’s grim The Last Judgment, whose images of damnation intensify rather than relieve his unease.