Conclave fails to elect Pope in first vote as black smoke pours from Sistine Chapel chimney

Black smoke is pouring out of the Sistine Chapel chimney, indicating no Pope was elected on the first ballot of the conclave to choose a new leader of the Catholic Church. The smoke billowed out at 9:00pm on Wednesday, some four hours after 133 cardinals solemnly entered the Sistine Chapel, took their oaths of secrecy and formally opened the centuries-old ritual to elect a successor to Pope Francis to lead the 1.4 billion-member church.

With no one securing the necessary two-thirds majority, or 89 votes, the cardinals will retire for the night to the Vatican residences where they are being sequestered. They return to the Sistine Chapel on Thursday morning.

Television journalists work near the Vatican on the first day of the conclave to elect the next pope, as seen from Rome. Reuters

There will be only one ballot on Wednesday. Thereafter, the cardinals can vote as many as four times a day.

They will burn their ballots, with black smoke from a chimney on the roof of the chapel marking an inconclusive vote, while white smoke and the peeling of bells signalling that the 1.4 billion member Church has a new leader.

The pope's influence reaches well beyond the Catholic Church, providing a moral voice and a call to conscience that no other global leader can match.

At a Mass in St. Peter's Basilica on Wednesday morning before entering the conclave, the cardinals prayed that God would help them find a pope who would exercise "watchful care" over the world.

Members of the Catholic women's group, Women's Ordination Conference, hold flares of pink smoke, calling for women's equality in the Catholic church and in protest at male-only conclave, in Rome. Reuters

In a sermon, Italian Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re told his peers they must set aside "every personal consideration" in choosing the new pontiff and keep in mind "only ... the good of the Church and of humanity."

Re, the dean of the College of Cardinals, is 91 and will not enter the conclave, which is reserved for cardinals under the age of 80.

Cardinals in recent days have offered different assessments of what they are looking for in the next pontiff.

While some have called for continuity with Francis' vision of greater openness and reform, others have said they want to turn the clock back and embrace old traditions. Many have indicated they want a more predictable, measured pontificate.

Salvadoran Cardinal Gregorio Rosa Chavez said he did not think the cardinals would retreat from Francis' vision for the Church.

"There will not be a step backwards," Rosa Chavez, aged 82, told the Corriere della Sera newspaper. "It is not possible."

"Whoever is chosen, I think it will be a pope who continues the work begun by Francis," he said.

A record 133 cardinals from 70 countries will enter the Sistine Chapel, up from 115 from 48 nations in the last conclave in 2013 — growth that reflects Francis' efforts to extend the reach of the Church to far-flung regions with few Catholics.

No clear favourite has emerged, although Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle are considered the front-runners.

NO EAVESDROPPING

However, if it quickly becomes obvious that neither can win, votes are likely to shift to other contenders, with the electors possibly coalescing around geography, doctrinal affinity or common languages.

Among other potential candidates are France's Jean-Marc Aveline, Hungary's Peter Erdo, American Robert Prevost and Italy's Pierbattista Pizzaballa.

Re suggested the cardinals should look for a pope who respected the diversity within the Church. "Unity does not mean uniformity, but a firm and profound communion in diversity," he said in his sermon.

As in medieval times, the cardinals will be banned from communicating with outsiders during the conclave, and the Vatican has taken high-tech measures to ensure secrecy, including jamming devices to prevent any eavesdropping.

Reuters