Black smoke pours from Sistine Chapel chimney, indicating no pope was elected as conclave opens

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By NICOLE WINFIELD
Updated 4:01 PM CDT, May 7, 2025

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Black smoke poured out of the Sistine Chapel chimney on Wednesday, signalling that no pope had been elected as 133 cardinals opened the secretive, centuries-old ritual to choose a new leader of the Catholic Church.

The cardinals participating in the most geographically diverse conclave in the faith’s 2,000-year history took just one round of voting Wednesday evening. After failing to find a winner on the first ballot, they retired for the night and will return to the Sistine Chapel on Thursday morning to try to find a successor to Pope Francis.

They had opened the conclave Wednesday afternoon, participating in a rite more theatrical than even Hollywood could create, a wash of red-robed cardinals, Latin chants, incense and solemnity that underscored the seriousness of the moment.

Outside in St. Peter’s Square, the scene was festive, as 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 for hours, watching screens that showed just a skinny chimney and occasional seagull. After the vote dragged on to dinnertime, some left in frustration, but those who stayed cheered when the smoke finally billowed out.



Read more: https://apnews.com/article/conclave-pope-francis-cardinals-50c798caa826bbb7c913791175536add

[Skittles]

1. so...white is positive and black is negative?

yeah OK

[JoseBalow]

3. I guess that depends on how you feel about popes

[Skittles]

10. in general

I think religious folk are THE biggest child groomers.

[Polybius]

8. They've been doing it like that for like 2,000 years

[Skittles]

9. yeah I would believe that

no reason for them to change.......

[Fla Dem]

14. There isn't a lot of color options when burning paper ballots.

Your innuendo is not appreciated.

[3catwoman3]

2. Has there ever been a pope selected in the first round?

The book White Smoke, a novel by the late Father Andrew Greeley, published in 1996, was a good read.

[MyOwnPeace]

4. After what I've seen on the 'interwebs'.......

thank God it wasn't orange!

[Aussie105]

5. So Trump and Musk still stand a chance?

. . . donno about that . . .

[LudwigPastorius]

6. On the off chance they select Trump, the smoke will be brown and stinky.

[Warpy]

12. Well, King Rotten Toadstool might, he has been known to wear a red hat

but right now it's likely a battle between the conservatives and the arch conservatives, I don't know if there are any vaguely liberal cardinals left in that bunch.

[Bluetus]

7. What is with this medieval bullshit?

Why can't they simply make an announcement or post it to the Vatican's website?

Why should anybody pay any attention to people who insist on living a millennium in the past?

When they have a Pope, are they going to slaughter a goat or infant or something? What the F is wrong with these people? It is 2025. Be relevant or be gone.

[C Moon]

11. I hope they ask Obama to take the job.

[Captain Zero]

13. They are working through the Opus Dei guys?

I hope that's what the black smoke means.

[Fla Dem]

16. Unfortunately this post has given some the opportunity for a number of anti religious/anti Catholic comments.

While not straight forward the innuendos are obvious.

[maxsolomon]

17. Oh well.

IDGAF. Take a week, take a month, take a year.
-Ex-Catholic

[Brother Buzz]

18. White smoke today

The identity of the next pontiff is expected to be revealed shortly when he appears on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica.

I have it on good authority the reveal party will will determine the new Pope is a boy.

[Beacool]

19. Habemus Papam!!

They elected the new Pope. No announcement as who he is, yet. I hope that he's not a conservative, but someone similar to Francis.