Cardinals returned to the Sistine Chapel on Thursday to resume voting for a new Pope after the first conclave ballot failed to find a winner, sending billowing black smoke through the chapel chimney.
Some 133 eligible cardinals had said that they expected a short conclave to replace Pope Francis.
However, it will likely take a few rounds of voting for one man to secure the two-thirds majority, or 89 ballots, necessary to become the 267th Pope.
Within the past century, the conclave has needed between three and 14 ballots to find a Pope.
John Paul I, the pope who reigned for 33 days in 1978, was elected on the fourth ballot. His successor, John Paul II, needed eight. Francis was elected on the fifth in 2013.
AP reported that the cardinals opened the secretive, centuries-old ritual Wednesday afternoon, participating in a rite more theatrical than even Hollywood could create.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the 70-year-old secretary of state under Francis and a leading contender to succeed him as pope, assumed leadership of the proceedings as the senior cardinal under age 80 eligible to participate.
Parolin stood before Michelangelo’s vision of heaven and hell, “The Last Judgment,” and led the other cardinals in a lengthy oath-taking. Each followed, placing his hand on the Gospel and promising in Latin to maintain utmost secrecy.
The ritual was a wash of red-robed cardinals, Latin chants, incense and solemnity that underscored the magnitude of the moment.
Outside St. Peter’s Square, the scene was festive. Thousands of people flocked to the piazza to watch the proceedings on giant video screens, applauding when the Sistine Chapel’s doors slammed shut and the voting began.
They waited hours, watching screens showing a skinny chimney and occasional seagull. After the vote dragged on to dinnertime, some left in frustration, but those who stayed cheered when the black smoke finally billowed following the first ballot on Wednesday.
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