White smoke pours from Sistine Chapel chimney, signaling a new pope

BREAKING: White fume is pouring retired of the Sistine Chapel chimney, signaling that a pope has been elected to pb the Catholic Church.

That means the victor secured astatine slightest 89 votes of the 133 cardinals participating successful the conclave to elite a successor to Pope Francis. The assemblage successful St. Peter’s Square erupted successful cheers. The sanction volition beryllium announced later, erstwhile a apical cardinal utters the words “Habemus papam!” Latin for “We person a pope!” from the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica. The cardinal past reads the winner’s commencement sanction successful Latin, and reveals the sanction helium has chosen to beryllium called.

The caller pope is past expected to marque his archetypal nationalist quality and impart a blessing from the aforesaid loggia.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Cardinals failed again Thursday greeting to find a successor to Pope Francis, sending achromatic fume billowing up done the Sistine Chapel chimney aft 2 much inconclusive rounds of conclave voting.

With nary campaigner securing the indispensable two-thirds majority, oregon 89 votes, the satellite volition request to hold longer for a caller person of the Catholic Church. The 133 cardinals took a luncheon interruption earlier returning to the Sistine Chapel for Thursday's day voting session, wherever 2 much ballots were possible.

Despite the disappointment, hopes were inactive high that a pope would beryllium chosen quickly, possibly arsenic aboriginal arsenic Thursday afternoon's 4th oregon 5th ballot.

“I anticipation by this evening, returning to Rome, I’ll find achromatic smoke,” said Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the 91-year-old dean of the College of Cardinals who presided implicit the Mass earlier the conclave. Re is not participating successful the balloting due to the fact that lone cardinals nether 80 are eligible to formed votes.

Re, who was quoted by Italian media arsenic speaking Thursday successful Pompeii, said helium was definite the 133 cardinals would elite “the pope that the religion and satellite request today.”

Eyes connected the chimney

For the wide public, the bushed of the voting is dictated successful galore ways by the Vatican tv cameras: You cognize a fume awesome is adjacent erstwhile the cameras resume their fixed changeable connected the Sistine Chapel's skinny chimney, with achromatic fume indicating a winner, and achromatic meaning nary consensus.

On Thursday, ample schoolhouse groups joined the premix of humanity awaiting the result successful St. Peter's Square. They blended successful with radical participating successful preplanned Holy Year pilgrimages and journalists from astir the satellite who person descended connected Rome to papers the election.

“The hold is marvelous!” said Priscilla Parlante, a Roman.

“We are hoping for the achromatic fume tonight,” said Pedro Deget, 22, a concern pupil from Argentina. He said helium and his household visited Rome during the Argentine pope's pontificate and were hoping for a caller pope successful Francis' image.

“Francis did good successful opening the religion to the extracurricular world, but connected different fronts possibly helium didn’t bash enough. We’ll spot if the adjacent 1 volition beryllium capable to bash more,” Deget said from the piazza.

The Rev. Jan Dominik Bogataj, a Slovene Franciscan friar, was much captious of Francis. He said if helium were successful the Sistine Chapel, he'd beryllium voting for Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem who is connected galore papal contender lists.

“He has wide ideas, not overmuch ideology. He’s a direct, intelligent and respectful man,” Bogataj said from the square. “Most of all, he’s agile."

A agelong hold connected the archetypal ballot

On Wednesday night, the achromatic fume of the archetypal ballot poured retired of the chapel chimney conscionable aft 9 p.m., astir 4.5 hours aft the cardinals filed into the Sistine Chapel to instrumentality their oaths astatine the commencement of the conclave.

The precocious hr prompted speculation astir what took truthful long: Did they person to redo the vote? Did idiosyncratic get sick oregon request translation help? Did the papal preacher instrumentality a agelong clip to present his meditation earlier the voting began?

“They astir apt request much time,” said Costanza Ranaldi, a 63-year-old who traveled from Pescara successful Italy’s Abruzzo portion to the Vatican.

Some of the cardinals had said they expected a abbreviated conclave. But if caller past is immoderate guide, it volition apt take a fewer rounds of voting to settee connected the 267th pope.

For overmuch of the past century, the conclave has needed betwixt 3 and 14 ballots to find a pope. John Paul I — the pope who reigned for 33 days successful 1978 — was elected connected the 4th ballot. His successor, John Paul II, needed eight. Francis was elected connected the 5th successful 2013.

Conjecture connected contenders

The cardinals opened the secretive, centuries-old ritual Wednesday afternoon, participating successful a rite much theatrical than adjacent Hollywood could create. Bright reddish cassocks, Swiss Guards lasting astatine attention, past Latin chants and oaths preceded the slamming unopen of the Sistine Chapel doors to seal the cardinals disconnected from the extracurricular world.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the 70-year-old caput of authorities nether Francis and a leading contender to win him arsenic pope, assumed enactment of the proceedings arsenic the astir elder cardinal nether property 80 eligible to participate.

Parolin seemed to person received the blessings from nary different than Re, the respected elder among the cardinals. During the accepted speech of bid during the pre-conclave Mass connected Wednesday, Re was caught connected a blistery mic telling Parolin “auguri doppio” oregon “double champion wishes.” Italians debated whether it was conscionable a customary motion acknowledging Parolin’s relation moving conclave, oregon if it mightiness person been an informal endorsement oregon adjacent a premature congratulations.

The voting process

The voting follows a strict choreography, dictated by religion law.

Each cardinal writes his prime connected a portion of insubstantial inscribed with the words “Eligo successful summen pontificem” — “I elite arsenic ultimate pontiff.” They attack the altar 1 by 1 and say: “I telephone arsenic my witness, Christ the Lord who volition beryllium my judge, that my ballot is fixed to the 1 who, earlier God, I deliberation should beryllium elected.”

The folded ballot is placed connected a circular sheet and tipped into a metallic and golden urn. Once cast, the ballots are opened 1 by 1 by 3 antithetic “scrutineers,” cardinals selected astatine random who constitute down the names and work them aloud.

The scrutineers, whose enactment is checked by different cardinals called revisers, past adhd up the results of each circular of balloting and constitute them connected a abstracted expanse of paper, which is preserved successful the papal archives.

As the scrutineer reads retired each name, helium pierces each ballot with a needle done the connection “Eligo." All the ballots are past bound unneurotic with thread, and the bundle is enactment speech and burned successful the chapel stove on with a chemic to nutrient the smoke.