Chapter 75: 75 Black Smoke

Inside the old Sistine Chapel.

When the bronze gate closes, it means that the first secret election has begun, and all the bishops are seated in their places.

The odds of electing candidates with more than a passing vote at one time are too low.

Elections are held by mutual election, with those who obtain more than two-thirds of the votes elected.

The list of candidates is not mentioned in advance, so multiple votes are often required to produce results.

Information about the elections must not be disseminated during the election period.

To await the results of the election, thousands of faithful gathered on St. Peter’s Square outside the Sistine Chapel, their eyes fixed on the chimney of the Sistine Chapel.

Every time there is a vote inside, when the results of the vote are sorted out, the Sistine Chapel chimney smokes once, and if the smoke is black, it means that the election has not yet been completed.

If white smoke rises from the chimney, a new pope has been elected.

There are three electoral officers, each of whom is responsible for reading out the names written on the ballot, counting the votes, and stringing the ballots with black cashmere thread.

They sat at the highest point in the Sistine Chapel hall, and directly in front of the three was a huge golden altar with a golden porcelain dish on it.

Every bishop whose name is written on the ballot is to stand before them, raise the ballot above his head, and pray in the name of the Lord and the Son.

It means that his vote is due to his heart, without any thoughts and cheating, and will not betray God!

The ballot paper is then placed on a golden porcelain plate, and the gold disc is lifted and flipped to slide the ballot into the altar below.

“Okay guys, let’s start praying before the election now, and then we can officially begin! ”

Bishop ‘Di Feng’, the electoral officer who sat in the center to count the votes and the chief electoral officer of this election, said aloud.

He gently rang the small golden bell next to him with his bell hammer, and the long bell echoed in the hall, and all the bishops bowed their heads in prayer.

They come from different countries and regions, so they all pray in different languages at this moment, and the Holy See does not have a uniform standard for this.

After the prayer, all the bishops picked up a very ordinary ballpoint pen at hand.

There is also a yellow ballot paper placed in front of them, as long as the name is written on it, it can be sent to the golden altar in front.

Sweat appeared on Bishop Rama’s forehead at this moment, and he felt very helpless at this time.

He was supposed to write Stur Griffin’s name on it, but it didn’t fit the charter of the election.

Bishop Jorge looked around, and several of them had good connections who gave him affirmative looks, silently saying that they would vote for him.

Jorge could only respond with a gentle smile, and last night he had the same dream as on the plane.

The angel came and told him that Stuart Griffin must be the new pope, that he was the Son, the Son who had returned to earth.

Jorge began to wonder again whether this was a revelation given to him by the Holy Lord.

Otherwise, why would the same dream appear twice.

But now that the election has begun, even if Jorge is curious and cares about the same dream he had twice, he can’t do anything at this time.

Everything can only come according to the process of elections.

And at this moment, he was more concerned about Bishop Rama, who was sitting closer to him, and the other party’s performance was too obvious.

Jorge could see Bishop Rama’s helplessness and depression from the other party’s subtle expressions and movements.

This made him very puzzled, and Bishop Rama was not like the sudden onset of the disease, but more like a child who did not know what to do.

It was just an election, and Jorge didn’t quite understand why the other side was in such a state.

Soon, the first bishop, whose name was written on the ballot paper, stood up and left his seat.

Standing before the three electors, he raised his ballot paper and exclaimed, “I call upon my witness, the great Son ‘Yaga’!”

Divine Initiators.

to verify my vote, confirm my choice…

I think he should be elected according to the will of the Lord! ”

Then place the ballot paper on the gold plate and gently turn it so that the ballot will fall into the golden altar.

The electoral officer sitting in the center picks up an oak ball the size of a thumb with the bishop’s name written on it from a wooden tray on the side.

The number of balls on this corresponds to the number of all those present who participated in the secret election of bishops, who automatically abandoned their campaigns to conduct the election fairly, except for the three electoral officials.

When the ballot paper falls into the altar, the chief electoral officer picks up a wooden ball corresponding to the bishop’s name and throws it into a silver basin next to it to make a clear sound.

When all the balls are placed in the silver basin, it indicates that all the bishops have voted and can be counted.

This is the process for every bishop to submit his ballot, and more than 350 bishops step forward one by one, adding the final counting of votes.

An election alone would have taken more than two hours.

But in the past, in secret elections for the pope, it took two or three days to elect them quickly.

It was a miracle that the previous election was held five times, and the results were available on the same day.

But the longest was the papal election more than 600 years ago, which lasted more than three years.

Even the bishops consumed several before they were finally elected.

When the last ballot was placed in the altar and the last wooden ball was thrown into the silver basin, it meant that all the votes had been collected.

And the last bishop to vote was Rama.

Jorge watched the other party walk back, Bishop Rama was in too bad shape.

Even others in the same group as Rama could see that something was wrong with Bishop Rama.

The golden altar below was raised to a high table, from which the electoral officer on the far left took out a ballot.

All the ballots were folded in half, folded, and bearing the seal of the Holy See of Genni on the obverse.

The bishop on the far right threaded the red silk thread through the silver needles, and next to him there was a silver tray with a small wooden spindle lifted by a shelf, and the red thread through the silver needle was connected to the wooden spindle.

“Bamos Maldini! ”

The electoral officer on the left opens the ballot paper and reads the name aloud.

The ballot was handed to Di Fengge, the middle chief electoral officer.

Di Fengge glanced at it and recorded it with a pen on the statistics sheet.

Then submit the ballot to the electoral officer on the far right.

He would pass a silver needle through the ballot and connect the rest in the same way.

This is the whole secret election process.

“Jorge Becorio! ”

Shout out the name on the last ballot.

Then count it, and the last electoral officer strings it up.

But no one on this got more than half of the votes.

The first election did not elect an elected pope.

The red thread is cut short with scissors, and an auxiliary priest in purple robes will place the string of ballots in the Sistine Chapel stove and burn it.

Since there are no selected results, a powder that produces a concentration of black smoke is added to the stove.

When black smoke rose from the smoke pipe of the Sistine Chapel, the entire St. Peter’s Square people let out a burst of lamentation.

This means that the election will continue!

(End of chapter)

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