No new pope yet: Black smoke pours out of Sistine Chapel’s chimney on Day 2
133 cardinals have arrived in Rome to select the new pope after Pope Francis died on April 21. Thursday marked the second day of the papal conclave.
For a second day, black smoke poured out from a chimney atop the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican on Thursday, indicating that the cardinals have failed to select Pope Francis’ successor. The 88-year-old spiritual leader died on April 21 after suffering a stroke that caused a coma and irreversible heart failure.
All of the 133 cardinals arrived in Rome to take part in the secret conclave to elect a new pope. On the first day of the conclave, too, black smoke was observed, which led to the continuance of the proceedings to the second day, but that too has given the same result till now.
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When was the black smoke observed on the 2nd day?
The black smoke came out of the Sistine Chapel’s chimney at 11:50 a.m. (0950 GMT). It signalled that the second and third ballots of the conclave had failed “to find consensus on a leader”.
“I hope by this evening, returning to Rome, I’ll find white smoke,” said Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re. He is the 91-year-old dean of the College of Cardinals. Re is not participating in the balloting as the cardinals who are under 80 are only allowed to vote.
Despite initial disappointments, Re is hopeful that the cardinals will elect “the pope that the church and world need today,” reported Italian media. The cardinals will keep voting four times a day until someone wins a two-thirds majority.
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In the modern times no pope has been elected on the first attempt. The followers who gathered to know the outcome of the papal vote widely expected to see the black smoke at the first attempt.
“We are hoping for the white smoke tonight,” said 22-year-old student who travelled from Italy.
“Francis did well in opening the church to the outside world, but on other fronts maybe he didn’t do enough. We’ll see if the next one will be able to do more,” he added.
