The Latest: Cardinals vote in the Vatican for a second day to elect a new pope

Cardinals attend the first day of the conclave to elect the successor of late Pope Francis inside the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican, Wednesday, May 7, 2025. (Vatican Media via AP)

By The Associated Press undefined

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Black smoke again billowed out of the Sistine Chapel on Thursday, the second day of the conclave, indicating that no new pontiff has been chosen after the second or third ballots. There are still two more votes possible later in the day.

The 133 cardinals had resumed voting in the morning, after spending the night sequestered at the Vatican residences. On Wednesday evening, black smoke poured out of the Sistine Chapel chimney indicating no pope was elected on the first ballot of the conclave.

The cardinals have been sworn to secrecy in the centuries-old ritual to elect a new leader of the 1.4 billion-member Catholic Church. To become pope, a cardinal needs a two-thirds majority, or 89 votes. This conclave is the most geographically diverse conclave in the faith’s 2,000-year history.

Here is the latest:

These are the US cardinals voting for the next pope

The United States is home to 10 of the 133 cardinals eligible to vote for the next pope. That’s more than any other nation except Italy, home to 17 of the electors in the conclave choosing a successor to Pope Francis.

Only four of the American electors actively serve as archbishops in the U.S. — Timothy Dolan of New York, Blase Cupich of Chicago, Joseph Tobin of Newark, New Jersey, and Robert McElroy of Washington. Two others are retired archbishops, and four have spent many years serving at the Vatican.

It’s a mixed group, ideologically. McElroy was one of Francis’ staunchest progressive allies. Cardinal Raymond Burke, a traditionalist, was a frequent critic of Francis.

â-¶ Read more about the US electors in the conclave

Conservative cardinals are likely seeking a more orthodox successor

Francis had many traditionalist critics who made clear they believed themselves to be more Catholic than the pope.

Francis sought to neutralize the conservative opposition through key appointments and targeted removals, and he also oversaw a crackdown on the old Latin Mass. When he approved blessings for same-sex couples, African bishops united in disapproval. And when he allowed divorced and civilly remarried Catholics to receive Communion, some accused him of heresy.

â-¶ Read more on Pope Francis’ conservative critics

The faithful in the piazza don’t get a vote. But if they did …

Pedro Deget, 22, a finance student from Argentina, is hoping for a new pope in Francis’ image. “Francis did well in opening the church to the outside world, but on other fronts maybe he didn’t do enough. We’ll see if the next one will be able to do more.”

The Rev. Jan Dominik Bogataj, a Slovene Franciscan friar, was more critical of Francis. He said if he were in the Sistine Chapel, he’d be voting for Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem who is on many papal contender lists.

“He has clear ideas, not much ideology. He’s a direct, intelligent, and respectful man,” Bogataj said from the square. “Most of all, he’s agile.”

A hot mic moment feeds conjecture over papal candidates

As the Sistine Chapel’s doors slammed shut to seal the cardinals off from the outside world, leadership of the proceedings was assumed by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the 70-year-old secretary of state under Francis and a leading contender to succeed him as pope.

Parolin is the most senior cardinal under age 80 eligible to participate, and seemed to have received blessings from none other than Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the 91-year-old dean of the College of Cardinals, who was caught on a hot mic during Wednesday’s pre-conclave Mass telling Parolin “Auguri doppio” or “double best wishes.”

Italians are debating whether this was a customary gesture, an informal endorsement or even a premature congratulations.

Prominent cardinal hopes for white smoke by the evening

Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the dean of the College of Cardinals, expressed hope that a new pope would be elected within hours, according to reports in major Italian newspapers.

“I hope that when I return to Rome this evening, I’ll find the white smoke already rising,” he said, speaking from the city of Pompei on Thursday.

Re is 91 years old, which makes him too old to participate in the conclave of 133 cardinals who are electing the next pope and who all have to be under 80.

However, he has been prominent and delivered a Mass on Wednesday before the cardinals began their conclave. As the Mass ended he was caught on a hot mic saying to Cardinal Pietro Parolin, viewed as a favorite for the papacy: “auguri doppi” (“double best wishes”).

Italians discussed whether this was a customary gesture acknowledging Parolin’s role as the most senior cardinal present in the conclave, or if it might have been an informal endorsement of Parolin’s candidacy for the papacy.

Black smoke again pours from the Sistine Chapel chimney: No pope elected yet

Black smoke is again pouring out of the Sistine Chapel chimney, indicating no pope was elected on second or third ballots of the conclave to choose a new leader of the Catholic Church.

The smoke billowed out at 11:50 a.m. on Thursday after the morning voting session 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 133 cardinals will return to the Vatican residences where they are being sequestered. They will have lunch and then return to the Sistine Chapel for the afternoon voting session.

Two more votes are possible on Thursday.

Day 2 of waiting for a new pope

Many faithful are hoping that the second day of the conclave will give the church and the world a new pope after a first vote produced dark smoke on Wednesday evening, sending a disappointed crowd to disperse in all directions in Rome.

Earlier, some of the people had started thinking that the long wait was the sign cardinals had reached a decision in a first vote, which would be unprecedented in the modern era.

“They probably need more time,” said Costanza Ranaldi, a 63-year-old who travelled from Pescara in Italy’s Abruzzo region to be present at the historic moment.

Chiara Pironi, a 26-year-old who lives in Rome, said she would keep returning to St. Peter’s Square until a new pope is chosen.

“I don’t want to miss that moment,” she said.

A proverb and a warning

There is an old prover that Italians keep repeating: “He who enters the conclave as pope leaves as a cardinal.”

The saying warns against overconfidence among frontrunners in papal elections — those widely expected to win often do not.

In Rome, the phrase is heard frequently, from casual conversations to live TV broadcasts, where commentators use it to temper speculation.

It’s a reminder of the secrecy and unpredictability of the conclave, where decisions are made behind locked doors, and outcomes can surprise even seasoned Vatican watchers.

Who is voting in the conclave?

Of the 133 cardinals voting in the conclave, 108 were appointed by Pope Francis, who died last month at the age of 88.

The electors could feel loyalty to continue his legacy — even though the late pontiff didn’t choose cardinals based on ideology, but rather for their pastoral priorities and geographical diversity.

Beyond that, the cardinals will consider practical matters, like age. Piking a relatively young man — say in his 60s — could result in a papacy of 20 years or longer.

Also, choosing a pope from where the church is growing — Asia or Africa — could bring more upheaval to the Vatican’s Italian-heavy bureaucracy that is still smarting from the Argentine pope’s go-it-alone style.

Why might papal voting might have taken longer Wednesday evening?

Casting and counting ballots for a new pope might have taken longer than expected on Wednesday evening because of the large number of cardinals participating — 133 — and the linguistic diversity among them.

The electors hail from 70 countries, and not all speak or understand Italian fluently, which could have slowed down the proceedings if help with translation was needed. While in the past Latin was the universal language of the church, nowadays not all cardinals understand Latin or even Italian, the lingua franca of the Vatican.

Another unknown was the length of the meditation delivered by Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa after the Sistine Chapel doors closed and the voting began. Cantalamessa is the retired preacher of the papal household.

Also, the vote might have had to be done twice, if for some reason the first ballot had to be invalidated. That occurred in 2013 when during one voting round, an extra empty ballot appeared.

Black smoke pours from Sistine Chapel chimney, indicating conclave hasn’t elected pope

The smoke billowed out at 9 p.m. 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 retired for the night to the Vatican residences where they are being sequestered.

â-¶ Read more about the conclave to pick the next pope