No Pope Yet: Black Smoke Marks First Conclave Vote Failure
Thick black smoke curled from the Sistine Chapel chimney on Wednesday, signaling that Catholic cardinals failed to elect a new pope in their first round of voting.
Tens of thousands of faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square, watching anxiously as the smoke appeared three hours and 15 minutes after the conclave began — confirming that no candidate had secured the required two-thirds majority.
The 133 voting cardinals, summoned to Rome following the death of Pope Francis on April 21, will return to the Santa Marta guesthouse and resume deliberations on Thursday.
Francis, who led the Church for 12 years, leaves behind a global Catholic community of 1.4 billion facing profound internal debates and external pressures. According to tradition, only cardinals under age 80 may vote. Their ballots, cast in secrecy within the Sistine Chapel, are communicated to the world through smoke signals: black for no decision, white when a new pope is chosen.
To succeed, a candidate needs at least 89 votes. This conclave is the largest and most diverse in Church history, bringing together cardinals from nearly 70 countries — many meeting one another for the first time.
With no clear frontrunner, the race remains wide open, spanning theological divides from progressive to conservative camps, reflecting the Church’s vast internal spectrum.
As tradition meets modern tension, the world now watches and waits for that moment when white smoke will rise — heralding not just a new pope, but a new chapter in the Church’s 2,000-year story.
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