Update: Another Signal of Black Smoke as Voting for New Pope Enters Second Day
he second day of electing a new Pope, which began with voting from 8:30 am to 11:30 am UK time, failed to produce a new leader of the Catholic Church as black smoke was seen after the morning session.
Voting to find a new Pope to replace the late Pope Francis, who died on Easter Monday, began yesterday, May 7.
However, as the conclave to elect a new Pope enters its second day, the Dean of the College of Cardinals, Giovanni Battista Re, has expressed hope that a decision could come by evening. Though too old at 91 to vote, the influential cardinal voiced optimism while visiting Pompeii: “I hope to see the white smoke this evening when I return to Rome.”
Cardinals began the morning session of voting at 8:30 am UK time, casting two ballots before the session ended at 11:30 am. Since no Pope was elected in this session, black smoke was seen. Another round of two votes will follow in the afternoon, running from 3:30 pm to 6:00 pm. Smoke signals—white for a successful election, black for inconclusive—are expected at the end of each session.
The conclave operates under strict secrecy within the Sistine Chapel. To be elected, a candidate must receive a two-thirds majority vote among the cardinals present.
Cardinal Re also reflected on the challenges awaiting the next pontiff: “First of all, the new Pope will have to try to strengthen faith in God in this world of ours characterised by technological progress, but which, on the spiritual side, we have noticed a bit of ‘forgetting God’… So there is the need for a reawakening.”
