No Decision on New Pope After Morning Votes as Pilgrims Look On

Tuesday morning at the Vatican saw black smoke pour out once again from the chimney stack of the Sistine Chapel, which was the signal to show the world that the Cardinals, who are voting to elect the new Pope, remained undecided.

The 115 Catholic Cardinals entered the Conclave on Monday afternoon to find the successor to Pope John Paul II. With one vote previously taking place yesterday – and another 4 every day from Tuesday, the world waits in anticipation for the new Pope to be elected. A two-thirds majority would be needed at this stage for the candidate to be chosen as the Roman Catholic Church’s 265th pontiff.

At present three signals of black smoke, one yesterday and two today, indicate that after three rounds of voting none of the Cardinals have secured the two-thirds of the votes required.

The Cardinals will break for lunch before reconvening at 4pm (1500 BST) for two further rounds of voting and dedicated faithful will gather by approximately 7pm to witness the next trails of smoke.

Just before midday, smoke rose from the chimney, with an initial grey colour but then turning a definite black colour – which was the signal for hundreds of gathered pilgrims to disperse from around the Vatican.

During the Conclave the Cardinals are sequestered in the Sistine Chapel, and are cut off from the world so that they can deliberate and vote in absolute secrecy and at the highest security. No methods at all are allowed to be used to contact the outside world and all Cardinals and house staff are required to take a vow of secrecy.

Today, after their morning mass, the Cardinals, who come from 6 continents and 52 countries once again gathered in the chapel to vote. Many experts have said that such a quick decision is not likely as the voting is more spread at this early stage before the direction of the voting becomes more defined.

In the past century, no Conclave has lasted longer than 5 days, and the Conclave in 1978 that saw Pope John Paul II elected as the pontiff took just 8 ballots over 3 days.

Commentators have stated their expectations that the conclave should be completed by tmorrow evening or Thursday, with a longer conclave indicating that their may be splits in the church between traditionalist and reformers.