Black smoke from Sistine Chapel chimney signals no pope elected

By Joseph Tulloch, VATICAN CITY Italy

Black smoke billowed out of the Sistine Chapel’s small chimney on Wednesday evening, signalling that cardinals had failed to elect a new pope to lead the Catholic Church.

Thousands of people had gathered in St Peter's Square in the Vatican waiting for smoke signalling whether a choice had been made or not.

At just past 21h00 local time, black smoke spewed out of the chimney indicating that the first vote has failed to reach consensus.

White smoke and the pealing of bells would have announced that the 133 cardinals from some 70 countries had chosen the 267th leader of the global Catholic Church.

There is no time limit as to how long the secretive conclave, as the gathering is known, can last.

But given that it the most geographically diverse one in the faith’s 2,000-year history it is expected to last a few days.

A cardinal needs a two-thirds majority to win the centuries-old secret voting ritual.

As they enter the conclave, the cardinal’s cell phones are taken away, they take oaths of secrecy, and airwaves around the Vatican are jammed to protect the deliberations.

While there was only one ballot on Wednesday, there can be as many as four votes a day thereafter.

The conclave began with a morning mass in St Peter’s Basilica.

Senior cardinal Giovanni Battista Re prayed for the cardinals to be enlightened to choose “the pope our time needs”.

The previous pontiff, Pope Francis, died on 21 April at the age of 88.