Electing a new Pope: Black smoke signals inconclusive end to first day of papal conclave

Failure to reach decision comes as no surprise in absence of frontrunner among the 115 cardinals

Cardinals enter the magnificently frescoed Sistine Chapel yesterday for the start of the conclave (Getty Images)

Black smoke poured from the specially built chimney on top of the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel last night in a sign that the 115 red-robed cardinals of the conclave had failed to elect a new pope on the first day of voting.

Darkness has already fallen when the smoke appeared. It was greeted with some shrieks from a few hundred rain-drenched faithful, vastly outnumbered by the world’s media, who looked on from under their umbrellas in St Peter’s Square.

After a disastrous decade for the Catholic Church, which has been embroiled in clerical sex abuse scandals and accusations of corruption in the Vatican administration, the cardinals must choose a figure who can inject new hope into the Church.

Today, after the Sistine Chapel had been swept for listening devices and laced with signal jammers (to block any contact with the outside world), each cardinal swore a solemn oath with their hand on the Bible not to reveal the secrets of their deliberations or face being cast out from the Church.

The head of ceremonies, Monsignor Guido Marini then addressed all those not associated with the conclave with the words “Extra Omnes” (all out), to enable the secretive process of the conclave to start. It began 12 days after Pope Benedict XVI became the first pontiff in modern times to step down from his role.

As all of the 115 of the cardinals are theoretically candidates for the papacy, and the winner must receive two-thirds of the votes, the failure to reach a decision was not a surprise.

Today’s vote should give an indication of who the key candidates may be. The conclave will meet again today, vote twice in the morning and evening until a decision is reached. When it is, the smoke will be white.

Last night, bookies and Vatican insiders were tipping the leading Italian candidate as the most likely to win, though the delay has led to fresh rumours of infighting among the Princes of the Church. Angelo Scola, pictured, the 71-year-old Archbishop of Milan, the Church’s biggest diocese, was said to have garnered up to 50 votes of the 77 needed to become the 266th Pope, after several days of discussions between cardinals that preceded the conclave.

Three other cardinals, Odillo Scherer of Brazil, Timothy Dolan of New York and Marc Ouellet of Canada, were said to be the other front runners, each with 10 to 15 firm supporters among the participating cardinals.

Many pundits however, say the unprecedented pressures on the Church hierarchy – brought not only by a series of scandals but also by the diverging interests of Catholics in first and third world countries, mean the result of the election is difficult to predict.

Pressure is being exerted from some quarters for there to be an Italian pope for the first time since 1978, but the names of North American and Latin American cardinals are also on many people’s lips – as is that of Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana.

Several participating cardinals had used Twitter to say goodbye to their online flock before the conclave began. “Last tweet before conclave: May Our Father hear and answer with love and mercy all prayers and sacrifices offered for fruitful outcome. God bless!” said Cardinal Wilfrid Napier of South Africa.

At a pre-conclave Mass in St Peter’s Basilica, perhaps with the thoughts of the most recent spats fresh in their memory, the cardinals prayed for unity in the Church.

With the Holy See still reeling from relentless scandals under Pope Benedict’s pontificate – from accusations of clerical paedophilia to infighting and corruption in the curia – the Church’s 1.2 billion members are also likely to be praying that the cardinals find focus in the coming days.