What to know
- Black smoke emanated from the chimney atop the Sistine Chapel this evening, indicating no new pope was elected during the first round of voting.
- One hundred and thirty-three red-robed cardinals from around the world have filed into the Sistine Chapel to the strains of a choir backed by organ music, and the doors were sealed behind them. The papal conclave — a centuries-old tradition to elect a new head of the Catholic Church — has now begun.
- The cardinal electors — or cardinals under 80 — will be barred from leaving or having any contact with the outside world. The Vatican governorate said today that access to telecommunications signals for those involved went dark at 9 a.m. ET.
- The electors will vote until they select the next leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics. That will be announced with white smoke billowing from the Apostolic Palace. Soon after, the new pope will emerge onto the balcony to greet his flock.
- The cardinal electors face a stark choice — select a pope who will follow in the footsteps of Pope Francis, an Argentine reformer who advocated for migrants and the environment, or one who will guide the Catholic Church down a more traditional path.
What happens if a cardinal is sick during the conclave?
Any cardinal electors who have made the trip to Vatican City but take ill or are too frail to make it to the Sistine Chapel can take part in voting.
To facilitate that, three cardinal electors known as the Infirmarii are chosen at random and tasked with leaving the chapel to visit any unwell cardinals. There, they will collect those cardinals' votes in a box in a process carried out in meticulous detail to avoid any suggestion of foul play.
Before they head over to the H-shaped St. Martha House (Casa Santa Marta) residence, which houses the cardinal electors, three Infirmarii must open the ballot box to show the other electors that it is empty. They will then lock the box and place its key on the altar.
Then, the Infirmarii take the locked ballot box and papers on a small tray to the Casa Santa Marta. Each cardinal elector takes the same oath as his fellow cardinals, writes his vote, folds it in half and pushes it through the opening in the box.
If any electors are too sick to write, one of the three Infirmarii or another cardinal nominated by the unwell elector carries out the same procedure, having taken an oath of secrecy.
The three Infirmarii cardinals then take the box back into the Sistine Chapel, where it is opened by the cardinals referred to as the Scrutineers — they announce and count the conclave votes, count the ballots in the box and confirm that they correspond with the number of sick cardinals. The votes are then treated like all the others, placed one by one on a plate that sits over an urn used to hold ballots and then tipped into the receptacle.
First night of voting leaves crowd anxious and jubilant
When the black smoke finally came after more than three hours, for some the mood had sailed way past excitement through anticipation, and it was hovering dangerously close to distraction.
It was soles rather than souls that needed prayer, and standing with limited supplies of food and water became too much for a few of the observers. At one point, a golf cart drove through the throng and collected someone in need of medical attention. Others appeared to leave the square altogether. People kept busy by cheering the occasional seagull that landed next to the chimney or by clapping, perhaps in the hope that those hermetically sealed inside the Sistine Chapel might hear their encouragement.
The long-awaited moment diced with anticlimax. Past 9 p.m. local time, it was too dark to see the chimney against the sky, so most people had their eyes and phones trained on the big screens showing the action. But seconds before the smoke finally arrived, the screens cut out, meaning it was difficult to actually see the moment itself.
For the faithful gathered here, of course, the sideshow drama was not the point.
“I was asking my soul, ‘What’s with the long wait?’” said the Rev. Mac Bean, 27, a priest from Zimbabwe who was wearing a white flat cap and white collar tucked into his blue short-sleeve shirt. “But it’s normal not to get a decision on the first try.”
Meryl Adriano, 41, a teacher from Melbourne, Australia, said: “I don’t mind waiting, because we’re on holiday for two weeks. What’s a few hours when we’ve waited 12 years to see this? There are so many other people waiting, too, they are giving us energy.”
Onlookers greet first night of black smoke with mixed emotions
Valentina Kamenova is a 25-year-old actress from Los Angeles who has been living in Rome for three years. She had been in the square for hours, but there was no sign of disappointment on her face as the first night ended with no new pope.
“It was a historic and surreal moment. When the door of the Sistine Chapel closed, I felt the power of that instant. It almost felt like a movie," she said. "Actually, it felt just like the film 'Conclave' by Edward Berger. Again, surreal.”
Meanwhile, the square is emptying quickly.
Shirley, 16, from the Netherlands, was in St. Peter’s Square with her class on a school trip. “I would have preferred the smoke to be white, because we waited so long,” she said. “But I’m not disappointed. It was nice to see so many people all hoping for the same thing together.”
Black smoke spotted
Black smoke emanated from the chimney atop the Sistine Chapel, indicating no new pope was elected during the first round of voting today.
Tens of thousands have joined in on conclave watch
About 30,000 people have gathered in St. Peter’s Square, according to Vatican News.
It's been almost three hours since the conclave began
We are nearing the three-hour mark since the College of Cardinals ordered “everybody out” and started the conclave proper, a glacially slow, ancient rite of voting and counting.
It’s now 8:30 p.m., and if the smoke doesn’t come soon, it might be hard to make out against the quickly dimming Roman sky.
1,000 law enforcement officers and high-security protocol take over St. Peter’s Square
A thousand law enforcement men are now in and around St. Peter's Square, an official from the Vatican's Ministry of Home Affairs told NBC News. This number will continue to grow until white smoke comes out of the Sistine Chapel chimney.
The number of officers is expected to increase based on the number of people arriving to witness the event, officials said, adding that checkpoints have been set up around the area, with military anti-drone units placed on the side of the square. Usually presenting themselves as a couple of soldiers with big bazookas, the units are able to detect and destroy any drone in sight.
While the cardinal electors are kept in full isolation by jammers inside the Vatican that block mobile telephone frequencies, police said they would operate on police radio frequencies and channels.
The crowd — and a seagull — are quietly waiting
It’s remarkably quiet, given the tens of thousands of people here. In more avian-related frivolity, a seagull just landed on the roof behind the chimney, prompting gasps and cheers from the crowd. Many people have their phones pointed at the smokestack, already recording, eager to capture a moment in history.
One group enjoys Aperol spritzes on the square
Some people even bring Aperol spritzes to the square, as if they were about to watch a show during aperitivo hour.
Gabriela, 44, Milagro, 29, and Maria Luz, 42, said they just needed something refreshing to drink after a hot Roman afternoon and a long tour of the Vatican museums. Still, their spritzes attract attention in St. Peter’s Square: "We hope we’re not offending anyone."
The Argentines, who are colleagues at a digital consulting firm, are enjoying their first vacation together.
They found themselves in St. Peter’s Square full of curiosity and emotion. Being here is about witnessing something extraordinary, something that might even call for a toast if there’s white smoke.
“I’m not a believer,” Maria Luz said, “but I think the election of a pope is always an important moment for humanity.”
False alarm from crowd on chimney watch
Some people are getting jumpy watching the Sistine Chapel’s chimney.
“Oh look!” shouts one excited onlooker spying movement atop the roof. “No, that was just a bird.”
