Wednesday’s papal conclave at the Vatican ended without a new pope, after black smoke was spotted billowing from the Sistine Chapel chimney. The process will continue Thursday, May 8.
Weeks after the death of Pope Francis, 133 cardinals have gathered in the eternal city to elect the next leader of the Roman Catholic Church in a centuries-old, and highly secretive, process called a conclave.
Among them, New York Archbishop Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who was part of the 2013 conclave that elected the late Pope Francis.
Watch a livestream of Sistine Chapel chimney and Vatican
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New Yorkers can share prayer message with archdiocese
“As our Cardinals enter the conclave beginning on May 7, 2025, to elect the 266th successor to St. Peter, we pray for them and for our next Pope,” the Archdiocese of New York’s website says.
New Yorkers can share a message of prayer with the archdiocese via a contact form on its website.
Wednesday’s papal conclave schedule
Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, presided over a Mass for the Election of the Roman Pontiff at St. Peter’s Basilica earlier Wednesday. According to the Vatican, he called for unity in faith and prayer as the cardinals begin the conclave, USA TODAY reported.
“May the Pope elected may be he whom the Church and humanity need at this difficult, complex, and troubled turning point in history,” Battista Re said.
According to a social media post from Dolan, the American cardinals left the Pontifical North American College sometime before 7 a.m., ET, and were preparing to enter the secretive papal conclave at the Sistine Chapel.
“I bring your intentions with me!” Dolan wrote. “Please keep us in your prayers.”
A post shared by Timothy Cardinal Dolan (@cardinaltimothymdolan)
After arrival, the quorum of cardinals are sequestered in the Sistine Chapel without access to the outside world (not even internet or smartphones are allowed) to begin the voting process. The word conclave, comes from the Latin term cum clave, which means “with a key.” An appropriate way to describe the papal conclave process.
The conclave consists of daily voting rounds during which the cardinals cast ballots until a new pope is chosen by a two-thirds majority vote.
What does black or white smoke mean during papal conclave?
While many of the 1.4 billion Catholic faithful around the world will be tuned into live feeds from the Vatican to await the election of the next leader of the Roman Catholic church, many will be focused on a particular part of the Sistine Chapel building: the chimney. Viewers will be tuned in to see whether black or white smoke rises from the structure. Here’s why:
What does black smoke mean? If no one is chosen during a round of voting, ballots are burned in a stove with a mixture of chemicals to produce black smoke, which signals to those gathered outside that the voting process will continue.
What does white smoke mean? Once a candidate receives the necessary two-thirds vote and accepts his election, the ballots are burned with chemicals that produce white smoke, signaling to the outside world that a new leader of the Roman Catholic Church has been chosen.
Contributing: USA TODAY
This story was updated to add new information.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Conclave updates: Black smoke seen from Sistine Chapel, process to continue May 8
Reporting by Ashley Catherine Fontones, Staff Reports / Rockland/Westchester Journal News
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