Today was the start of the Conclave, the process by which Catholic Cardinals vote for a new Pope, following the death of Pope Francis on April 21 at age 88.
The schedule for the first day of the Conclave is different from the rest of the days, with the Cardinals who are eligible to vote only holding one ballot.
That voting started at 7 pm Rome time, or 1 pm Eastern, and all eyes were on the chimney installed at the Sistine Chapel late last week.
It took over an hour to count and record the votes.
Unsurprisingly, the smoke we saw this evening was black, signaling the Cardinals have not reached the 89 vote threshold required for the new Pontiff.
This means the Conclave continues tomorrow.
Black smoke billowed from the Sistine Chapel chimney Wednesday after the first round of voting by the College of Cardinals, indicating no consensus on a new pope.
The 133 voting cardinals have been sequestered inside the historic chapel since Wednesday evening, tasked with casting secret ballots to choose a successor to Pope Francis, who died April 21 of a stroke and heart failure.
If no cardinal receives two-thirds of the vote, the ballots are burned with a chemical additive that produces black smoke, which signals to the outside world that the next pope has not yet been chosen.
Eighty-nine cardinals must agree before a new pope can be named. When the cardinals reach a consensus, the ballots are burned with a different chemical agent that turns the smoke white.
After the white smoke wafts through the chimney, the newly elected pontiff will don the traditional white papal vestments for the first time before making his debut from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica.
The new pontiff’s papal name will also be announced.
Pope Pius XII was elected on the first ballot in 1939.
The ballots for the first round were burned.
Voting will resume tomorrow morning at 9:30 am Rome time tomorrow (3 am Eastern time)