Black smoke means no new pope after morning conclave votes

Faithful gather at St. Peter's square as the black smoke billows from the Sistine Chapel on Thursday.

After black smoke billowed from the chimney above the Sistine Chapel on Thursday, there was a palpable feeling of disappointment in the air.

People have now started to leave the area as lunch approaches, after cardinals failed to elect a new pope after two new rounds of voting on Thursday morning.

The assumption was that smoke would come a little closer to 1 p.m. local time, but it appears that they were able to speed up the process compared to yesterday’s vote.

People at St. Peter's Square wait to see smoke pour from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel on Thursday.

This was the second vote of the morning – and the third ballot overall – confirming that the cardinals have not yet reached a consensus on who should be pope.

This is not unusual. Pope Benedict XVI was elected after four ballots, Pope Francis was after five and Pope John Paul II was after eight.

There is just huge anticipation, everyone at the Vatican is on chimney watch.

I imagine tonight there will be even more anticipation as they move into what will be the fourth and fifth ballots – the very rounds the last two conclaves produced a result. That alone will have people watching closely.

I do think it’s significant that they seem to have got through the morning votes much faster, they’ve got into their stride.

This has come in good time.

Black smoke at the Sistine Chapel chimney on Thursday.

Black smoke has risen above the Sistine Chapel, meaning that cardinals have failed to elect a new pope after two new rounds of voting on Thursday morning. They’ll meet again in the afternoon.

A view of the chimney on the Sistine Chapel roof as cardinals take part in a conclave to elect the new pope, at the Vatican, on Thursday.

Black smoke billowed from the Sistine Chapel chimney on Wednesday evening, signaling that the cardinals had voted but not yet reached the two-thirds majority needed to elect a new pope.

But this was to be expected. No one was really expecting white smoke last night. That’s because the first vote is really about setting out where the support lies within the cardinals.

If there is white smoke early in the conclave, it would indicate that one of the frontrunners may have achieved the consensus.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle are seen as favorites because many of the cardinals know who they are.

We must remember, this is a group of cardinals drawn from across the world, who don’t know each other very well. They’ve been wearing name badges when they’ve been meeting.

But Parolin and Tagle have roles in the Vatican, which means they have met many of the cardinals. They are known – that’s what makes them frontrunners.

Cardinal Parolin, who is presiding over the papal conclave, clearly has support within the Vatican. There was an embrace from Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re during the Mass yesterday, with Cardinal Re saying “double good wishes.”

Now, that could mean good luck in your role overseeing the conclave, but it could also be viewed in other ways. It was quite an interesting gesture.

An old saying about papal elections goes as follows: “He who enters the conclave as pope, leaves it as a cardinal.”

In other words, any candidate seen as the frontrunner before the voting begins should be treated with caution, and no cardinal should go into the Sistine Chapel assuming they will get the votes.

Still, Vatican analysts have come up with a string of contenders thought to have a good chance of becoming the next pope, known as “papabile” – or, translated from the Italian, “pope-able.”

Here are a few of the favorites – although there is no clear frontrunner.

Read more about the possible candidate here.

Women cover themselves from the sun as they wait in St Peter's Square on the second day of the conclave to elect the new pope.

Beneath the shadow of the Sistine Chapel’s chimney, visitors from around the world are gathering with eyes fixed skyward, waiting for a puff of white smoke and the first sign of a new pope.

“We came for the jubilee year,” said Theresa Lacsina, 74, visiting from Maryland. “Perfect timing for the conclave, it just so happened the conclave happens on our week here,” she said.

Linda Anden, 79, from Canada, said she and her companions are looking for an “older” pope to be elected.

“We’re hoping for an older pope,” she said. “Cardinal Tagle is one of the favorites, but we hope for an older pope. That’s why we’re not hoping for him.”

“We’re hoping to see the white smoke this evening,” added Jo Dawang, 75, also from Canada.

For now, the square remains in suspense, as the world waits for the chimney’s next signal.

Black smoke billows from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel, where 133 cardinals are gathering on the first day of the conclave, on Wednesday.

Last night, more than 45,000 people waited in St. Peter’s Square to see the color of the smoke that would billow from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel.

Black smoke means no pope has yet been chosen. White smoke means the Catholic Church has a new leader.

The practice of using smoke to signify that cardinals have chosen a new pope dates back to the 1800s, according to Frederic Baumgartner, a historian of papal elections.

Speaking to CNN in 2013, Baumgartner said in the 1800s the smoke was “taken as meaning that there had been no election – and that they were burning the ballots after scrutiny.”

But things changed during the 1903 conclave, where white and black smoke came to signify whether a new pope had been chosen or not.

“The primary reason they went for the black and white smoke was because there was confusion in the crowds as to what was going on,” Baumgartner explained.

Various chemicals are added to the blaze to make the black smoke darker and the white smoke more visible. Even as night drew in on Thursday, the smoke rising from the chimney was clearly black.

A view inside the Sistine Chapel on Tuesday, ahead of the conclave.

Over the past few days, the Sistine Chapel has been transformed from one of the world’s busiest tourist sites into the world’s most secretive — and beautiful — polling station.

Using a wealth of sketches and photographs from over the centuries, a team of Vatican staff were tasked with creating a “photocopy” of previous conclaves.

Two rows of raw wood tables covered with beige cloth and burgundy satin line either side of the chapel. Each cardinal sits on a chair made of cherry wood, marked with his name.

In front of the altar — below Michelangelo’s “The Last Judgment” — stands a lectern with a book of the Gospels, upon which the cardinals swore their oaths of secrecy. Next to the lectern is a raw wood table, with an urn in which the votes are collected.

The cardinals do not walk directly on top of the chapel’s floor, but on a flat wooden structure covered in a beige cloth. Each cardinal will also receive a pen, a red folder, and a ballot paper.

Once the ballots have been cast and counted, the cardinals will learn whether they have chosen a pope or not. Either way, the ballots from each round will be burned in a famous stove, placed behind a marble barrier. The color of the smoke from the ballots will tell the outside world whether it has a new pope.

People queue to enter St. Peter's Square on Thursday morning.

After spending the night and having breakfast at their Santa Marta residence, the cardinals will reconvene in the Sistine Chapel for the second round of voting.

Whereas yesterday’s procession to the Sistine Chapel was broadcast to the world, we won’t see any of the cardinals’ movements today. They have been sequestered — and our only glimpse into their thinking will be the smoke that billows from the chapel’s chimney.

As many as four votes can be held today — two in the morning, and two in the afternoon.

But we won’t see smoke more than twice today. We’ll either see white smoke or no smoke during this morning’s first vote, and then either white smoke or black smoke for the second round. The same is true in the afternoon’s two sessions.

If we get a pope in the first round of voting this morning, we should see smoke at around 10:30 a.m. local time (4:30 a.m. ET). If not, the first time we’ll see smoke is at around midday (6 a.m. ET).

If we get to the afternoon, we will either see smoke at around 5:30 p.m. local (11:30 a.m. ET) or 7 p.m. (1 p.m. ET).

Black smoke rises from the chimney on the Sistine Chapel, indicating no new pope had been elected, on Wednesday.

The first day of conclave failed to deliver the Catholic Church its 267th pope.

This much was expected. To become pope, a cardinal needs two-thirds of the ballots cast by the College of Cardinals — that’s 89 votes out of the 133 eligible cardinals. That was always unlikely on the first day.

Day two could be different. As many as four votes can be held today. It was in the final vote on day two that Pope Francis was elected in 2013.

Stay with us as we bring you live coverage from the Vatican.