Black smoke: cardinals fail to elect new pope in first conclave vote
133 electors from 70 countries are under lockdown as they vote for the Catholic Church’s 267th pontiff
Black smoke billowed from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel on Wednesday evening, signalling an inconclusive first vote by cardinals locked in the Sistine Chapel in a conclave to elect a new pope to guide the Roman Catholic Church.
Thousands of faithful gathered in St Peter’s Square waiting for smoke to pour from a narrow flue on the roof of the chapel at the end of a day rich in ritual and pageantry, with prelates praying for divine guidance in their secret ballot.
The crowds had to be patient as it took longer than expected for the smoke to appear, more than three hours after the start of the conclave. This was an hour more than it took for smoke to be seen after the first vote in the 2013 conclave that picked the late Pope Francis.
When a pope is chosen, white smoke will emerge, but this had not been expected on Wednesday – a pontiff has not been picked on the first day of a conclave in modern times.
However, some cardinals said this week that they hoped to wrap things up by Thursday or Friday to show the Church can remain unified after the often divisive, 12-year papacy of Francis, who died last month.
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The 133 cardinal electors, who are all aged under 80, will spend the night secluded in one of two Vatican guest houses – where they can continue their deliberations in a more informal setting before returning to the chapel on Thursday morning.