Black smoke is again pouring out of the Sistine Chapel chimney, indicating no pope was elected on second or third ballots of the conclave.
The smoke appeared just before noon after morning voting sessions to elect a successor to Pope Francis.
The cardinals will now return to the Vatican residences where they are being sequestered for lunch. After that, they will go back to the Sistine Chapel for the afternoon voting session.
Two more votes are possible today.
What to know
- How the pope is elected: The College of Cardinals, composed of 133 voting eligible cardinals, is sequestered inside the Vatican to pray, discern and vote for the next pope without distraction. A two-thirds majority is required for a new pope to be elected. Voting will occur regularly in the morning and afternoon until a pope is selected.
- Smoke watch: After voting, ballots are burned in a special stove — black smoke signals no decision, while white smoke means a new pope has been chosen. Before the conclave began, the Vatican press office said that morning smoke would likely rise around 10:30 a.m. or noon local time, though cardinals overshot the office’s Wednesday estimates by hours.
- Cardinals contenders: There are no official candidates for the papacy, but some cardinals are considered “papabile,” or possessing the characteristics necessary to become pope. Some names include Pietro Parolin, who will oversee the conclave, Luis Tagle, dubbed the “Asian Francis,” Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, a conservative cardinal native to the Congo, and Pierbattista Pizzaballa, potentially the first Italian pope in decades.
