“We depend on the press to know who the candidates are, because names are not something we really talk about in there—perhaps only in small groups. This is not a parliament.”

Far from the Sistine Chapel where cloistered cardinals will cast votes, people are placing bets on who will be chosen as the next pope.

Casa Santa Marta is abuzz with workers, engineers, and Vatican officials transforming the guesthouse that was the residence of Pope Francis into a secure, secluded place of lodging that would put Fort Knox to shame.

The Vatican would not name two who are missing.

Preparations for the conclave to find a new pope accelerated Friday with the installation of the chimney out of the Sistine Chapel that will signal the election of a successor to Pope Francis.

The conclave that begins next Wednesday to elect a successor for Pope Francis is the first in 46 ½ years for which the Vatican hasn’t ordered a set of cassocks from the two best-known papal tailors.