By Vanessa Gera VATICAN CITY (AP) — Cleaners and cooks. Doctors and nurses. Even drivers and elevator operators. 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. 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…
Register
