One hundred and thirty three cardinals will gather again on Thursday under the vaulted ceilings of the Sistine Chapel, which are decorated with Michelangelo’s frescoes, including “The Creation of Adam,” where they’ll cast their second set of ballots to make one among them the next leader of the Catholic Church’s more than 1 billion members worldwide.
A successful candidate to replace Pope Francis, who died April 21, will require a two-thirds majority of the voting cardinals. The first ballot on Wednesday failed, resulting in a plume of black smoke — fumata nera in Italian — from the chapel’s chimney. White smoke — fumata bianca — will signify that a new pope has been elected, as will the ringing of the bells of St. Peter’s Basilica.
An estimated 45,000 people gathered in St Peter’s Square to await the results of the first conclave vote, which had been expected some time after 7 p.m. but ended up coming in around 9 p.m., according to Vatican News.
After failing to come to a consensus, the College of Cardinals have gathered on Thursday morning for the second day of the conclave, with up to four more opportunities for them to select the 267th Pope.
As the second day of voting is set to begin, the next person elected pope will need at least 89 votes in order to achieve the majority from the College of Cardinals.
With no majority being achieved last night on the very first vote, Thursday presents up to four voting opportunities — two in the morning and two in the evening — bringing with it a possibility that the cardinals might coalesce around one of the candidates.
The electors are expected to participate in four rounds of voting through the course of the day.
Credit: abc news
