The first day of the conclave began with the cardinals, dressed in their scarlet vestments. attending a special Mass in St. Peter's Basilica known as Pro Eligendo Papa, meaning 'for electing the Pope'.
In the afternoon they proceeded into the Sistine Chapel, led by a choir singing the Litany of Saints, a Gregorian chant imploring the intercession of the saints to help guide the voting.
Napoleon, Illya and the other conclavists followed after the double lines of cardinals, under the watchful eyes of the colorfully dressed Vatican Swiss Guards.
Their presence wasn't just for show or ritual as they were highly trained and experienced military men serving in the oldest continuously operating unit in the world
Before the procession began Illya of course, just had to fill his partner in about the guards who lined the route to the Sistine Chapel.
"When the Swiss Guard was founded in 1506, halberds were standard issue weapons for foot soldiers. It is a two-handed pole weapon that came to prominent use during the 14th and 15th centuries. "
"Their uniforms were made up of an extremely garish combination of purple and gold and cut in the style of a 15th century jester, these guards added an interesting flair to the Papal office, though their function was far from ceremonial."
Without letting his partner see, Napoleon took his turn at rolling his eyes. He didn't stop Illya as it would probably be the most the Russian would be able to speak, as once they entered the chapel, their conversation would be kept to a minimum.
"The guard is formed of 110 officers and men and are the de facto military of the Vatican City, which we know is an independent country of just .17 square miles in size located inside Rome. They are responsible for the security and safety of the Pope as well as the Papal facilities."
"You don't say," Napoleon tried not to snicker. He already knew most of this but when Illya was on a roll, sometimes it was just better to he let him go.
"While the public face of the Swiss Guard is the classic Michelangelo uniform with armor plate, plumes, and Conquistador-style Morion helmets, this was for the benefit of tourists."
"Still, the Swiss Guard receives specialized training in these formidable Renaissance-age weapons, though these are not their only means of defense.
"Located deep inside the barracks of the Swiss Guard is an arsenal of arms with which the soldiers train constantly over the course of their service.
The officers and NCOs of the Swiss Guard are armed with a Dreyse Model 1907 pistol. It is a 7-shot .32 ACP, though ugly it is reliable."
"With their long flowing robe-like uniform, the Swiss Guard long ago figured out that a short, compact pistol-caliber subgun could be concealed for those times when things might become dangerous, such as an attempt on the Pope's life."
Thank you for that edifying lecture tov...Father,"Napoleon whispered."Let's just hope nothing happens to give cause to the Swiss Guards to draw their weapons."
Napoleon pointed, drawing his partner's attention as the procession had finally begun to move.
The route to the Sistine Chapel was slow and solemn. The agents dressed in their black cassocks, over which were layered a white knee-length surplus trimmed in lace, vestments traditionally worn over the choir cassock by priests, followed in the procession.
Their heads were covered with the black biretta, a stiff square-shaped hat with silk trim and tuft. It had three ridges called 'horns' across the crown; it was the same hat was worn by the cardinals, only theirs were scarlet.
The choir, and Cardinals chanted the Litaniae Sanctorum and they slowly proceeded into the Palace, making their way to the Sistine Chapel.
One by one they all approached the altar beneath Michelangelo's Last Judgment where they would place hands on a bible to take an oath of secrecy in Latin by which they promised and swore to observe with the greatest fidelity and with all persons, secrecy regarding everything that in any way relates to the election of the Roman Pontiff.
The Cardinal Dean read the oath aloud in full; in order of precedence each cardinal elector repeated that oath, while touching a hand to the Gospels.
"Et ego, (they said their first name), Cardinalis ( followed by the surname), spondeo, voveo, ac iuro. Sic me Deus adiuvet et haec Sancta Dei Evangelia, quae manu mea tango.
The rough translation was...And I, (name) Cardinal, promise, vow and swear. Thus, may God help me and these Holy Gospels which I touch with my hand."
Each of those present in the Sistine Chapel took the same sacred oath, which in Solo and Kuryakin's mind might be a bit problematic when reporting to Alexander Waverly the details of this affair, once it was with hope, successfully concluded.
They too were being sworn to utter secrecy as to what took place within the chapel, for all who took the oath to break it meant excommunication. That meant nothing to Kuryakin, however giving his solemn word to keep his silence did.
The solemn oath that each man took after marching up the aisle one by one, was a ritual that occupied most of the morning session.
After all present had taken the oath, the Master of the Papal Liturgical Celebrations ordered all individuals other than the cardinal electors and conclave participants to leave the chapel.
As tradition dictated, he stood at the door of the Sistine Chapel and called out in latin, Extra omnes!
Which meant roughly in Latin... ' Everybody else, get out!'
A homily was delivered on the election of a pope and once done, he too left. Closing the heavy ornate wooden doors behind himself.
It was on the other side that the Camerlengo placed a chain to lock to the doors, which was fixed with lead seals that could not be broken.
Two of them were used, joined together by the chains. Each was marked 'conclave' and on the reverse was imprinted '1963', marking the year of John XXIII's death.
The Camerlengo, who was the chamberlain appointed by each pope became Church administrator until a new pope was selected.
After a pope died, and was officially declared deceased by a doctor, the Camerlengo resided in the Vatican palace while performing all of his duties, keeping things running smoothly in the Vatican City-State.
When a pope died in office, it was the Camerlengo who made an official determination of death.
Traditionally, he did this by first calling the pope by name, and asking, 'are you sleeping?' If he received no response, he tapped a silver hammer three times on the forehead of the deceased pope.
Having confirmed that the Holy Father was indeed dead, the Camerlengo, in the presence of the cardinals, took possession of the Ring of the Fisherman which the Pope wore, and cut it in half with shears to prevent its use until a new pope was elected in the conclave.
Once the chamberlain sealed those doors, they could not be opened again until there was a new Pontiff...
Napoleon was accustomed to the ornate rituals of the church but nothing in his upbringing had prepared him for this. As he gazed up at the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, which he had seen before, it took on a completely different meaning seeing it now under these circumstances.
He was going to be privy to the actual election of the next pope, though it was still his assignment to see it wasn't a Thrushman elevated to one of the most powerful positions in the world. Napoleon felt humbled being here and his emotions were momentarily running high.
If he was still feeling a bit overwhelmed, he could just imagine what was going through Illya's little atheist head. They'd have to tread lightly, literally and figuratively, inside the chapel.
He looked about, seeing for the first time how things had been prepared ahead of time for the conclave.
Temporary flooring had been put down to protect the chapel's original floor, long tables were set up along the length of the walls on either side. The cardinals would be seated on chairs made of cherry wood behind wooden tables covered in satin cloth.
At each place was set prayer books, pens and red leather bound books for note taking and ballot papers. All of this, other than the ballots once cast and the accompanying notes, would eventually be stored after the fact in the Archives, deep within the belly of the Vatican.
The names of nine voting cardinals were chosen at random: three to serve as scrutineers, the others to serve support roles during the vote.
Napoleon sidled over to his partner as they could not stay in the chapel proper, but were to wait nearby behind the lattice screen with the other assistants.
The screen, or transenna, divided the chapel about two-thirds down of the chapel was where the conclavists were sequestered. It didn't allow for great viewing of the goings on with the cardinal, but Illya had positioned himself close to it to the screen and was able to read the lips of a number of them.
He discreetly used the sign language he and Napoleon had developed for each other, and though his fingers were flying, nothing he reported was of much use.
"Are we sure about this THRUSH infiltration?" He signalled to Napoleon.
"Ours is not to reason why, ours is but to look and listen," he signalled back.
And so they did, to the point of near boredom.
The discussion and arguments both pro and con for certain candidates still didn't narrow down to their three suspects.
Periodically, the agents along with a few of the other conclavists would find their eyes drifting upwards, gazing at the astounding artwork above their heads.
Unless their respective Cardinals signalled their presence was needed, they were essentially prisoners, not able to leave unless it was to use the men's room.
The Sistine Chapel was most famous for Michelangelo's frescoes, but long before Michelangelo, painters such as Botticelli were commissioned to fresco the two long walls of the chapel: one side told the story of Moses, the other the story of Christ. Even without Michelangelo's work, these earlier paintings still represented one of Europe's greatest fresco cycles. This made the Chapel one of the most sought after places to visit by the world's tourists, whether Catholic or not.
During the conclave two Pontifical Swiss Guards were positioned outside the Chapel the locked and sealed doors so there was in essence no other way in or out except for the back of the chapel leading to the quarters for the Cardinals,the conclavists and where the lavatory was located.
There were three levels in the Palace, a high vaulted basement with extra buttresses to support the weight of the chapel above it, and a third floor reserved for quarters for the guards.
The meals were prepared and brought in by nuns, and served to each Cardinal by their conclavists in their quarters or in a dining room located in the 'Domus Marthae Sanctae ,' a residence in the Vatican, feet away from the chapel. It contained 131 bedrooms, and sitting rooms as well as the dining area.
In the past food was only sent in through a pass through window, but as other rules had changed, so did the matter of meals.
The nuns, numbering only a few were the only ones granted brief access, with no speaking permitted. Physicians who worked at the Vatican were allowed entry in the event of a medical emergency.
A fair number of the cardinals were up there in years so the chances of a medical problem happening was a definite possibility.
The meals at the Domus were an important gathering. There was no assigned seating, and for many cardinals it's was the first real chance they have to converse at length with prelates from the other countries and regions. Once the dining room cleared out, smaller and more private conversations would continue into the night. Those unfortunately would be near impossible to monitor as again there were no controls as to which cardinal visited another, or others.
The conclave rules were pretty clear about what was and was not allowed in the cardinal's conversations.
Under penalty of excommunication, making any pact or promise that would oblige a cardinal to vote for a particular candidate, or deny his vote to a candidate was strictly forbidden. Deals that would promise certain appointments or courses of action if a particular cardinal was elected pope were also forbidden.
What was permitted was the exchange of views concerning the election and nothing more.
This was broad enough to allow the kind of promotion, plugs and endorsements that circulated quietly in the Domus. The cardinals felt it a duty to do this sort of talking, as without it the conclave could easily stall.
The cardinals talked, lobbied and carefully calculated the chances of their favorite candidate. Lots of wheeling but no dealing.
From the initial group of more vote-getters, the second and third ballots the next morning would thin out the field, narrowing down the numbers. Lunch on day two of a conclave was a crucial moment, when momentum was assessed and votes shifted to front-runners.
If a conclave went into day three and beyond, it signaled the original favorites might have lacked the support needed for reaching the necessary two-thirds majority. At that point, the cardinals might turn to other candidates while they kept praying to the Holy Spirit for guidance.
What conversations the agents heard were sometimes forceful, but never angry.
It was like listening in to a board meeting from a monstrous corporation. Just as in the outside world some members of the board had more pull than others.
Napoleon and Illya doubted any sort of violent confrontation would happen, and hoped it wouldn't when they discovered the identity of the THRUSH infiltrator or infiltrators as they were not able to bring their guns into the Sistine chapel.
Then again they couldn't reveal themselves or the Thrushies as that could create another problem; there was a possibility the interloper or his cohorts were armed.
Still Solo and Kuryakin hadn't left themselves completely defenseless…they listened in on as many of the conversations as best they could since it was impossible to control where each cardinal elector sat, and they couldn't bug every table.
The discussions revealed nothing, and the candidates that Spellerman and Wiśniewski had indicated were beginning to be mentioned more and more.
Returning from the Domus, after all the discussions and waiting, a vote was at last taken at last...
After writing down his choice, each cardinal folded the ballot twice, held it in the air, and carried it to the chapel's altar. There they each declared aloud,
"I call as my witness Christ the Lord who will be my judge, that my vote is given to the one who before God I think should be elected."
Each Cardinal placed his ballot on the paten- a silver plate used during a mass that is resting on a chalice
The plate was used to drop the ballot into the chalice.
After bowing before the altar, each man returned to his seat.
The use of the paten and chalice for this purpose was significant in two ways: they were the vessels used to serve the sacred bread and wine in Mass and using the plate made it hard for a cardinal to cast more than one ballot.
After all the cardinal electors had voted, the votes were tallied by the three scrutineers, who were chosen from among the cardinal electors by lot at each new vote. The names of nine voting cardinals had been chosen to serve as scrutineers.
They were seated apart at a table in the front of the Chapel near the altar. It was their job to observe the voting process which required rigorous oversight, either to prevent the occurrence of corruption or genuine mistakes. They were responsible for counting the ballots.
It was perhaps these men on which the UNCLE agents needed to keep an eye.
.
Everyone behind the transenna, including Napoleon and Illya stood, craning their necks as the first scrutineer used the patent as a cover and shook the chalice to mix the ballots that had all been placed within it.
The next scrutineer then counted the votes without unfolding them.
Bad news...the number of the ballots didn't match the number of cardinals voting, requiring all the ballots to immediately be was done by the third scrutineer. This of course, forced the voting to begin again.
The ballots along with any notes were were incinerated in a special stove that has been installed in one corner of the chapel; made of cast-iron, it stood about three feet high, about nineteen inches in diameter and had been used since the conclave of 1939, which elected Pope Pius XII.
After adding the special chemical to produce the right color, t hat sent black smoke billowing out of the chimney.
As it wafted in the air, it informed the masses waiting with baited breath and praying as they waited in St. Peter's Square that the vote had failed to elect a pope .
At first there was a problem with the smoke first appearing white, sending the crowds into a cheer that quickly died down as it finally turned black.
Even Solo and Kuryakin held their breath until it was announced there was no majority.
The time consuming process of the ritual began again with a second round of voting.