First smoke of the conclave: Video shows results of cardinals' initial vote
A new pope has yet to be chosen.
Black smoke emerged from atop the Sistine Chapel chimney on Wednesday night, May 7, indicating that more voting lies ahead amid the ongoing papal conclave. The cardinals will reconvene in the Sistine Chapel on Thursday morning to begin a second round of voting.
The College of Cardinals, which is made up of bishops and Vatican senior officials, gathered in the Sistine Chapel on Wednesday morning to begin voting on who will be the Catholic Church's next pontiff, succeeding the late Pope Francis. 133 cardinals make up this conclave's electing body, tasked with selecting one of their colleagues to lead the church next. One cardinals must receive a two-thirds majority vote to be deemed the next pope.
If white smoke would have rose from the chimney, it would have indicated that the cardinals had selected a new pope.
Watch the moment it happened: Black smoke emerges
Greta Cross is a national trending reporter at Paste BN. Story idea? Email her at gcross@usatoday.com.