A new pope has been elected
By
The Associated Press
Updated: May 08, 2025 at 12:11PM EDT
Published: May 08, 2025 at 4:33AM EDT
How the length of voting fuels speculation about the next pope
Black smoke emerges from Sistine Chapel chimney for a second time
No pope elected on first ballot as black smoke spotted at the Sistine Chapel chimney
VATICAN CITY — White smoke has emerged from the chimney at the Sistine Chapel, signalling the College of Cardinals has elected a new pope.
More than 100 cardinals sequestered themselves in the chapel on Wednesday to elect a new head of the Catholic Church following Pope Francis’ death on Easter Monday. He was 88.
This is a breaking news update. More details to come.
Cardinals failed again Thursday morning to find a successor to Pope Francis, sending black smoke billowing up through the Sistine Chapel chimney after two more inconclusive rounds of conclave voting.
With no candidate securing the necessary two-thirds majority, or 89 votes, the world will need to wait longer for a new leader of the Catholic Church. The 133 cardinals took a lunch break before returning to the Sistine Chapel for Thursday’s afternoon voting session, where two more ballots were possible.
Despite the disappointment, hopes were still high that a pope would be chosen quickly, perhaps as early as Thursday afternoon’s fourth or fifth ballot.
“I hope by this evening, returning to Rome, I’ll find white smoke,” said Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the 91-year-old dean of the College of Cardinals who presided over the Mass before the conclave. Re is not participating in the balloting because only cardinals under 80 are eligible to cast their vote.
Re, who was quoted by Italian media as speaking Thursday in Pompeii, said he was certain that cardinals would elect “the pope that the church and world need today.”