Black smoke rises again as Cardinals fail to elect new pope, anticipation build
On Thursday, May 8, thick black smoke once again rose from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel, signaling that the cardinals have not yet elected a new pope.
The result followed two more ballots—the second and third—since the conclave began Wednesday evening, leaving the world waiting for white smoke and the announcement of the 267th leader of the Catholic Church.
As tradition dictates, the black smoke meant no candidate secured the required two-thirds majority—89 out of 133 votes. Despite the disappointment, the crowd gathered in St. Peter’s Square met the moment with a mix of applause, sighs, and quiet prayers.
“I don’t want it rushed—whatever they need to do to make the right decision,”
said Barbara Mason, a 50-year-old pilgrim from Canada, expressing her hope for a pope who continues Pope Francis’s legacy of environmental advocacy and support for migrants.
A sacred, secretive process under Michelangelo’s frescoes
The conclave, steeped in centuries of ritual, is being conducted under tight secrecy. The cardinal electors, all under age 80, are sequestered inside the Vatican, barred from contact with the outside world. They attend private Mass each morning before casting ballots in the Sistine Chapel, where they sit under Michelangelo’s famed ceiling frescoes.
Votes are written on slips of paper, placed into a silver urn on the altar, then burned in a cast iron stove. A second, chemical-fed stove connected to the same flue alters the smoke’s color—black for no decision, white for a successful election.
“It is very, very exciting to be here,”
said Paolo Cabrera, a 40-year-old from the Philippines, who arrived early with his wife to witness history unfold. The couple is rooting for Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, a widely discussed contender.
A Church at a crossroads
The 2025 conclave is the largest and most international in history, with cardinals from around 70 countries. As voting continues, observers note a lack of a clear frontrunner. The divide between progressive reformists and doctrinal conservatives mirrors broader tensions within the Church.
Pope Francis, who passed away on April 21 at the age of 88, was a transformational figure—the first pope from the Americas and a champion of the marginalized. He was elected in five ballots in 2013. His predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, emerged in four ballots in 2005.
This time, the path may be longer. Cardinals are weighing how to move the Church forward amid geopolitical uncertainty, the fallout from clerical abuse scandals, and declining church attendance in the West.
“The Church has many divisions between liberals and conservatives, which are divisions that should not be, because I believe that the Church is universal,”
said Juan Benitez, a 37-year-old visitor from Colombia.
Names floating among Vatican watchers include Italian Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Hungary’s Peter Erdo, and Sri Lanka’s Malcolm Ranjith, among others.
For now, the world watches the chimney.
