When the pope dies unexpectedly, members of the Catholic College of Cardinals gather at the Vatican for an election that will select a new pontiff and define a new era for the Church. Behind the locked doors of the Sistine Chapel, cardinals from across the globe vie for the honor in a closely guarded ritual with roots that go back centuries. For Cardinal Lawrence, dean of the College of Cardinals, it is his sacred duty to oversee this conclave. Several front-runners emerge, including Cardinals Bellini of the Vatican, Trembley of Montreal, Tedesco of Venice and Adeyemi of Nigeria, who could become the first African pope in history. Each has his own agenda and his own compromising secrets that if revealed could block the path to the most powerful office in the Catholic Church. As shocking revelations and Machiavellian machinations threaten to derail the proceedings, Lawrence struggles with his conscience and his burgeoning doubt in his own purpose. When he learns that the late pope had secrets of his own, his sense of duty forces him to try and uncover them, but nothing prepares him for a final shocking twist.