Pauline Chapel

The Pauline Chapel is the conclave’s prescribed first assembly place: before entering the Sistine Chapel to elect a new pope, the cardinals gather there for the opening ritual. In the novel, it is both a working space of formal procedure and a sacred setting whose imagery and prayers expose the strain between the election’s public solemnity and Jacopo Baldassare Lomeli’s inward doubt.

Setting and prescribed role

The Apostolic Constitution requires the conclave to assemble in the Pauline Chapel, next door to the Sistine Chapel, at a suitable hour in the afternoon. The chapel is the Holy Father’s private chapel, described as more intimate and gloomy than the Sistine. When Lomeli arrives, the cardinals are already seated in their pews and television lights are on. Monsignor Epifano places the dean’s scarlet silk stole around Lomeli’s neck, and the two proceed toward the altar between Michelangelo’s frescoes of Saints Peter and Paul.

The images make the setting more than a venue for an official gathering. Saint Peter is shown crucified upside down, his face appearing to confront those who look at him. Lomeli feels the force of that image as he approaches the altar, and again when he leaves. The chapel’s prescribed role is to usher the electors into the conclave, but its art turns that procedural threshold into a question about the worthiness of those charged with choosing a successor.

Opening ritual and procession

At the microphone, Lomeli faces the standing cardinals while Epifano holds open the ritual book at section two, “The Approach to the Conclave.” Lomeli makes the sign of the cross, and the assembly responds, “Amen.” He then announces that, after the sacred acts of the morning, they are entering the conclave to elect a new pope. His address asks for the immediate grace of the Holy Spirit and prays that the cardinals may choose a worthy pastor and act in a way pleasing to God, with the intercession of the Virgin Mary, Saints Peter and Paul, and all the saints.

When Epifano closes and removes the book, the procession begins. One master of ceremonies carries the processional cross, two others hold lighted candles, and the choir files out singing the Litany of the Saints. The cardinals follow across the Sala Regia toward the Sistine Chapel. The Pauline Chapel thus marks the transition from the gathering and its opening words to the conclave’s next stage, giving the departure a formal, collective shape.

Lomeli’s experience and narrative significance

The ritual’s language does not produce a corresponding sense of spiritual assurance in Lomeli. As he speaks, he feels no emotion or spiritual presence; to him, the words are only words, an incantation without magic. He stands with clasped hands, closed eyes, and bowed head as the choir and cardinals leave, hoping the television cameras do not reveal his lack of grace. The contrast makes the public performance of unity coexist with a private crisis of faith and confidence.

Even after the chapel has almost emptied, the fresco of Saint Peter holds Lomeli’s attention. He tries to keep his gaze on the door, but the saint’s image seems to demand that he consider whether he is worthy to choose Peter’s successor. The chapel’s significance therefore rests in the conjunction of rule, ritual, and scrutiny: it is where the conclave formally begins, but also where Lomeli’s doubts are set against the sacred authority of the office and the responsibility of the choice ahead.