VATICAN CITY: Catholic cardinals are returning to the Sistine Chapel for a second day of voting to try and elect a new pope .
According to the Washington Post, 133 cardinals are expected to vote again on Thursday 8th May, 2025 after spending the night sequestered at the Vatican residences.
On Wednesday evening, black smoke poured out of the Sistine Chapel chimney indicating no pope was elected on the first ballot of the conclave.
Earlier, some of the people had started thinking that the long wait was the sign cardinals had reached a decision in a first vote, which would be unprecedented in the modern era.
“They probably need more time,” said Costanza Ranaldi, a 63-year-old who travelled from Pescara in Italy’s Abruzzo region to be present at the historic moment.
Chiara Pironi, a 26-year-old who lives in Rome, told The Washington Post, she would keep returning to St. Peter’s Square until a new pope is chosen. “I don’t want to miss that moment,” she added.
A proverb and a warning
There is an old prover that Italians keep repeating: “He who enters the conclave as pope leaves as a cardinal.”
The saying warns against overconfidence among frontrunners in papal elections, those widely expected to win often do not.
In Rome, the phrase is heard frequently, from casual conversations to live TV broadcasts, where commentators use it to temper speculation
It’s a reminder of the secrecy and unpredictability of the conclave, where decisions are made behind locked doors, and outcomes can surprise even seasoned Vatican watchers
Black smoke pours from Sistine Chapel chimney, indicating conclave hasn’t elected pope
Hannah McKay/Reuters
The smoke billowed out at 9 p.m. Wednesday, some four hours after 133 cardinals solemnly entered the Sistine Chapel, took their oaths of secrecy and formally opened the centuries-old ritual to elect a successor to Pope Francis to lead the 1.4-billion-member church.
With no one securing the necessary two-thirds majority, or 89 votes, the cardinals retired for the night to the Vatican residences where they are being sequestered.
