VATICAN CITY: Cardinals return 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 of the 133 voting cardinals had said they expected a short conclave to replace Pope Francis. But 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. For much of 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.
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The cardinals took part in a ritual that was more musical than Hollywood could produce on Wednesday afternoon to begin the secretive, centuries-old ritual. As the older priest under the age of 80 who was eligible to participate, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, a 70-year-old secretary of state under Francis and a leading candidate to succeed him as bishop, assumed control of the trials. In” The Last Judgment,” Parolin led the other chiefs in a lengthy oath before Michelangelo’s eyesight of heaven and hell in front of the other chiefs. Each one responded, putting his hand to the Gospel and promising to keep the Gospel a secret. The ceremony featured red-robed cardinals, Latin chants, perfume, and solemnity, which added to the intensity of the time. The atmosphere outside St. Peter’s Square was celebratory as thousands of people gathered in the patio to watch the action on massive picture screens, cheering as the Sistine Chapel’s doorways slammed shut and the ballot began. They waited for hours while watching televisions that only showed a small stove and sporadic seagulls. Some people left in annoyance after the vote dragged on to dinnertime, but those who stayed cheered when the dust suddenly came out. Gabriel Capry, a 27-year-old London resident, said,” My hope is that cardinal may pick a person who can make peace and bring the church back together.” On Wednesday, the cardinals were sequestered from the outside world, their phones were stolen, and the radio around the Vatican were jammed to thwart any communication until they found a new bishop. 108 of the 133 “princess of the church” were chosen by Francis to be the most prominent ministers from far-away nations like Mongolia, Sweden, and Tonga, which had never had a friar before. His choice to overturn the common 120 cardinal electors has both increased the length of the process and added more doubt to a process that is always rife with mystery and tension.
