Black smoke emerged from the chimney over the Sistine Chapel at 21:00 on Wednesday evening, signalling that a first ballot has been held at the conclave and has concluded without the election of a Pope.
Around 45,000 people had gathered in St Peter’s Square to await the announcement, which had been expected some time after 7pm. In the end, they had to wait until 9.
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.
Among those in the square was Deacon Nicholas Nkoronko from Tanzania. Speaking to Vatican News, he said: “Our role here is to pray and to join with other Christians, other Catholics, to pray for the Holy Spirit to guide the whole process.”
“Wherever the new Pope comes from”, Deacon Nkoronko stressed, “whether it’s Africa, Asia, America, what we need is we need a holy Pope. We need a Pope who will guide the Church and will be the pastor of the Church.”
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