Black smoke streamed from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel on Wednesday, signaling to the world that the 133 cardinal electors have not come to a two-thirds agreement about who the next pope should be.
The cardinals gathered in the Vatican will therefore continue the process to elect a new head of the Catholic Church Thursday.
Earlier on Wednesday, the cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church entered the Sistine Chapel to begin the conclave, where they will select a new pope for the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.
The cardinal electors will resume voting on Thursday morning. From now on, they will vote four times a day until a candidate for the papacy achieves a two-thirds majority, with a break for a day of prayer if no pope is elected after three days.
Rome is buzzing in anticipation of this moment, and the Via della Conciliazione leading to St. Peter’s Square is packed. Pilgrims, journalists, cardinals and curious onlookers have migrated to Vatican City to observe what they can of the secret conclave.
Now that the first day of conclave has concluded, Thursday morning the cardinals will celebrate Mass and then meet again in the Sistine Chapel to vote. If that vote is unsuccessful, they will immediately vote again. After that, they can vote twice in the afternoon, and in the following days there can be two votes in the morning and two in the afternoon. Before the chapel doors shut earlier, the cardinals took an oath in which they promised to keep secret all matters related to the vote. They are allowed no communication with the outside world until a new pope is elected.
Thursday morning, cardinals will have breakfast from around 06:30 (05:30 BST) ahead of Mass, before more votes scheduled for later in the day.
During the conclave, the cardinals live in the Casa Santa Marta, a five-storey guesthouse with 106 suites, 22 single rooms and a state apartment.
The conclave – the assembly of cardinals for the election of the pope – happens at the Sistine Chapel. Cardinals are forbidden from speaking to outsiders during this period.
While their seclusion could last for an indefinite period, it’s worth noting that both Pope Francis and his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, were elected after two days.
Despite night starting to fall in the Vatican, the crowds waiting to see smoke from the Sistine Chapel chimney are still going strong.
The latest estimate from the police is that about 30,000 people are currently in St Peter’s Square.
By Agencies
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