Italians like to dramatize an extraordinary occasion by describing it with a singular expression. It happens, they say, ogni morte di Papa -- only when a Pope dies. The death of a Pope is indeed a momentous news event, and to cover the death of Paul VI and the beginning of the process to choose his successor TIME took some extraordinary measures. Rome Bureau Chief Jordan Bonfante, detached temporarily to New York, flew back immediately. Rome Correspondent Roland Flamini heard the bulletin of the Pope's death while packing his bags for a story assignment about crowded European beaches. The bags stayed unpacked, and Flamini put to use the knowledge he had accumulated by writing a just completed book on Vatican diplomacy in the 1960s. London Correspondent Erik Amfitheatrof did double duty, filing first from Canterbury, England, on the Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops, then heading for Rome to make contact with sources he had developed while covering the Vatican from 1975 to 1977.

The three correspondents, plus a flock of stringers, had to overcome the time-honored secrecy of the Vatican to gather new data that supplemented the files on Paul's possible successor, which had been building for three years. In the end, as always, getting the story was a matter of legwork. The correspondents used Vatican sources carefully nurtured over the years. They met and interviewed foreign Cardinals as they arrived in Rome. One good spot for news has always been the exit at the Vatican used by the Cardinals after finishing their daily meetings to plan the conclave. Meanwhile, the top editors of TIME held their own modest conclave in a 25th floor office of the Time-Life Building to decide--with collegial advice from TIME correspondents and a plethora of other sources--which papal candidates should be featured on our cover and in the story.

Working with files from Rome and around the world, Richard Ostling, TIME's Religion editor, wrote the cover story, which was researched by Clare Mead Rosen and Sara Medina. The accompanying story on the papal candidates was done by Associate Editor Mayo Mohs, a former Religion editor for TIME, who wrote the Pope's obituary for last week's issue.

All in all, it was a remarkable week--one that had begun the previous Sunday afternoon when we stopped the presses to get the obituary into 95% of our domestic run. Ogni morte di Papa, as the Italians say.

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