Asger Risom
Cardinals Prepare for New Rounds of Voting as Papal Selection Remains Uncertain
The second day of the Vatican conclave is underway, with 133 cardinals once again locked inside the Sistine Chapel as the world awaits news of a new pope. After a first round of voting on Wednesday failed to yield a consensus, a second—and potentially decisive—series of ballots is scheduled for Thursday.
Morning and Afternoon Votes Could Signal Breakthrough
According to HotNews, the initial black smoke seen rising above the Sistine Chapel on Wednesday evening disappointed thousands gathered in St. Peter’s Square.
The vote served primarily as a gauge of the internal dynamics among various theological and geopolitical factions within the College of Cardinals.
Thursday’s schedule includes two morning and two afternoon ballots. Should any candidate reach the required two-thirds majority—89 votes—white smoke will be released, signaling the election of the new pontiff. If not, more black smoke is expected at around noon and again in the early evening.
With a record number of voting cardinals from 70 nations, including first-time participants from countries like Haiti and Cape Verde, the race remains wide open. Papal elections that produced Benedict XVI (2005) and Francis (2013) also concluded on the second day, raising hopes that today could bring a similar outcome.
Strict Secrecy and Global Attention
The conclave remains sealed under Vatican protocol: phones are banned, telecommunications are cut off, and cardinals take a solemn oath—under threat of excommunication—not to divulge internal proceedings. Inside the chapel, voting takes place beneath Michelangelo’s Last Judgment, a setting steeped in religious symbolism and historical weight.
Outside, over 5,000 journalists have transformed the Vatican’s perimeter into a massive open-air press center.
Global attention has surged, with bookmakers offering odds on potential papal frontrunners including Italians Pietro Parolin and Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Maltese Cardinal Mario Grech, French Archbishop Jean-Marc Aveline, and the Philippines’ Luis Antonio Tagle.
As crowds gather once more in St. Peter’s Square, eyes are fixed on the small chimney that will—sooner or later—announce the name of the next spiritual leader of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics.