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The 133 Catholic cardinal electors tasked with choosing a caller pope to win Pope Francis were sequestered for a 2nd time connected Thursday arsenic the 2025 conclave continued astatine the Vatican. On Wednesday evening, the prelates from six continents conducted a archetypal circular of voting successful the Sistine Chapel, but sent achromatic fume up done the chimney successful the evening to awesome that a caller pontiff had not yet been chosen.
The conclave began Wednesday, 16 days aft Pope Francis, who led the world's 1.4 cardinal Catholics for 12 years, died astatine the property of 88.
A caller pope volition beryllium selected erstwhile a campaigner gets a two-thirds-plus-one bulk ballot by the cardinal electors. White fume volition beryllium sent up the chimney of the Sistine Chapel erstwhile that happens, to bespeak a caller pope has been chosen.
Black fume is seen from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel meaning a caller pope is not yet elected and voting volition proceed tomorrow, May 7, 2025, astatine the Vatican.
Christopher Furlong/Getty
It is intolerable to foretell how agelong the conclave volition last, but galore observers expect the electors to take a new pontiff wrong a fewer days.
"I deliberation the religion astatine the infinitesimal realizes that they request to bring radical together, that they don't privation the religion to look split," papal historiographer Rebecca Rist told CBS News spouse web BBC News. "So I fishy we'll person the determination by Saturday."
Spectators started lining up aboriginal connected Thursday to participate St. Peter's Square, aft tens of thousands gathered to ticker Wednesday evening's fume signal.
People stitchery successful beforehand of St. Peter's Square and St. Peter's Basilica, connected the 2nd time of the conclave to elite the caller pope, arsenic seen from Rome, Italy May 8, 2025.
Alkis Konstantinidis / REUTERS
"I don't caput that it's achromatic smoke, it shows the Holy Spirit is astatine work," James Kleineck, who was visiting the Vatican from his location successful Texas, said Wednesday. "There volition beryllium different votes soon enough. We volition get our pope."
Haley Ott is the CBS News Digital planetary reporter, based successful the CBS News London bureau.
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