Ahead of the conclave, the Vatican staff is to be sworn to secrecy under threat of excommunication

All the support staff for the cardinals who will elect the successor to Pope Francis are taking an oath of secrecy on Monday ahead of the conclave that’s starting on Wednesday.

The punishment for breaking the oath? Automatic excommunication.

Workers and restorers prepare the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican, where the upcoming conclave will start May 7 — In this image taken on Wednesday, April 30, 2025, and made available Saturday, May 3, 2025, by Vatican Media, workers and restorers prepare the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican, where the upcoming conclave will start May 7. (Vatican Media via AP)

The oath-taking is being held in the Pauline Chapel at the Vatican for all those assigned to the upcoming conclave. They include clerics in support roles, including confessors speaking various languages. The cardinals themselves will take their oath on Wednesday in the Sistine Chapel, before they cast their first ballots.

But an array of laypeople are also required to house and feed the cardinals. A conclave’s duration cannot be predicted — and it will only be known when white smoke rises out of the Sistine Chapel chimney to signal a winner.

All those people will be sequestered to be on hand for any medical needs, and maintain the majestic beauty appropriate for the election of the next head of the 1.4 billion strong Catholic Church.

The oath

The provisions for the oath-taking are laid down in Vatican law.

St. John Paul II rewrote the regulations on papal elections in a 1996 document that remains largely in force, though Pope Benedict XVI amended it twice before he resigned in 2013. He tightened the oath of secrecy, making clear that anyone who reveals what went on inside the conclave faces automatic excommunication.

In John Paul’s rules, excommunication was always a possibility, but Benedict revised the oath that liturgical assistants and secretaries take to make it explicit, saying they must observe “absolute and perpetual secrecy” and explicitly refrain from using any audio or video recording devices.

They now declare that they: “Promise and swear that, unless I should receive a special faculty given expressly by the newly elected pontiff or by his successors, I will observe absolute and perpetual secrecy with all who are not part of the College of Cardinal electors concerning all matters directly or indirectly related to the ballots cast and their scrutiny for the election of the Supreme Pontiff.

“I likewise promise and swear to refrain from using any audio or video equipment capable of recording anything which takes place during the period of the election within Vatican City, and in particular anything which in any way, directly or indirectly, is related to the process of the election itself.

“I take this oath fully aware that an infraction thereof will incur the penalty of automatic excommunication reserved to the Apostolic See. So help me God and these Holy Gospels, which I touch with my hand.”

Preparations underway

The Sistine Chapel has already undergone a week-long transformation following the funeral of Pope Francis, who died on April 21 at age 88.

Technicians installed a floating floor to level out the space and make way for ceremonial furnishings, including tables for the electors and their aides, which are draped by Vatican upholsterers.

The famous stove used to signal the voting outcomes was placed in its designated corner, a placement dictated by protocol, and firefighters installed the chimney on the roof.

Firefighters place the chimney on the roof of the Sistine Chapel, where cardinals will gather to elect the new pope, at the Vatican, Friday, May 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Twelve technicians and maintenance craftsmen will remain inside for the duration, maintaining temperature, lighting, and electrical systems, and assisting with ceremonial logistics like operating the stove, the Vatican City State administration said.

As tradition dictates, all windows in the conclave zone are darkened to guarantee privacy. Nearly 80 access points around the perimeter are sealed with lead on the eve of the conclave.

A colonel and a major of the Pontifical Swiss Guard Corps are among those taking the oath — they will be responsible for surveillance near the Sistine Chapel, the frescoed Renaissance jewel where 133 cardinal electors will be voting.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.