Cardinals continue search for pope
Cardinals will make another two attempts to elect a pope today after failing in their first vote of a historic papal conclave, in a secret and sacred quest to choose a new leader for the Roman Catholic Church.
Black smoke that initially looked light enough to throw even Vatican Radio analysts off guard poured from the chimney atop the Sistine Chapel last night, disappointing a crowd of 40,000 pilgrims packing St Peter’s Square for a sign that the 115 voting cardinals from six continents had settled on a successor to Pope John Paul II.
White smoke – and the pealing of bells shortly afterwards – will eventually tell the world that the church’s 265th pontiff has been chosen to succeed John Paul, who died on April 2 at 84.
“We thought it was white. Then it went black. I had a feeling of acceleration followed by disappointment,” said Harold Reeves, a 35-year-old theology student from Washington DC.
“You can’t describe the feeling. When the smoke came out, it looked white and I chilled,” said Silvia Mariano, aged 20, a university student.
The crimson-robed cardinals, representing 52 countries, celebrated Mass in the chapel of their high-security Vatican hotel at 6.30am Irish time (7.30am local time).
They will again sequester themselves inside the Sistine Chapel at 8am Irish time for the first of two rounds of voting.
Smoke – black or white – will be expected around 11am Irish time to confirm the outcome. If black smoke signals another inconclusive voting session, the cardinals will break for lunch and reconvene at 3pm Irish time for two afternoon rounds, with a fresh plume of smoke expected by 6pm Irish time.
A quick decision in the first round of voting yesterday would have been a surprise. The cardinals have a staggering range of issues to juggle as they choose the first new pope of the 21st century – fallout from priest sex-abuse scandals, chronic shortages of priests and nuns as well as calls for sharper activism against poverty and easing the ban on condoms to help combat Aids.
The next pontiff also must maintain the global ministry of John Paul, who took 104 international trips in his more than 26-year papacy.
It was the first time in more than a generation that crowds had stared at the chimney for the famous smoke and word of a new pope. In that time, the church has been pulled in two directions: a spiritual renaissance under John Paul, but battered by scandals and a flock pressing for less rigid teachings.
Before the conclave began, one of the possible candidates – German cardinal Joseph Ratzinger – tried to set a tone of urgency, warning cardinals, bishops and others gathered in St Peter’s Basilica for a Mass that the church must stay true to itself.
Under conclave rules, four rounds of voting will be held per day beginning today – two in the morning, two in the afternoon – until a prelate gets two-thirds support: 77 votes. If they remain deadlocked late in the second week of voting, they can go to a simple majority: 58 votes.
No conclave in the past century has lasted more than five days, and the election that elevated Polish Cardinal Karol Wojtyla into the papacy as John Paul II in October 1978 took eight ballots over three days.
