Black smoke pours from Sistine Chapel, signals no pope chosen in first vote

With no one securing the necessary two-thirds majority, or 89 votes, the cardinals will retire for the night to the Vatican residences where they are being sequestered

vatican city, church
The smoke billowed out at 9 pm Wednesday, some four hours after 133 cardinals solemnly entered the Sistine Chapel | Image: Bloomberg
AP Vatican City
1 min read Last Updated : May 08 2025 | 7:40 AM IST

Black smoke is pouring out of the Sistine Chapel chimney, indicating no pope was elected on the first ballot of the conclave to choose a new leader of the Catholic Church.

The smoke billowed out at 9 pm 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.

ALSO READ: Cardinals begin conclave to elect new pope with faithful seeking direction

With no one securing the necessary two-thirds majority, or 89 votes, the cardinals will retire for the night to the Vatican residences where they are being sequestered.

They return to the Sistine Chapel on Thursday morning.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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Topics :VATICANPope FrancisChristianitychristian

First Published: May 08 2025 | 7:39 AM IST

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