Il Nuovo Postiglione - All eyes on Sistine Chapel chimney as conclave enters day two

A plume of black smoke rose over the crowds thronging St Peter's Square late Wednesday, confirming that the conclave's first ballot had not secured a two-thirds majority to name a successor to the late Pope Francis.

The 133 "Princes of the Church" spent the night sequestered in the Santa Marta guesthouse, and were to seek divine inspiration at private mass early Thursday before embarking on a second day of voting.

If the morning's first secret ballot fails again to identify a clear winner from the crowded pack, a second vote will be held. If there is no consensus again, two more votes will be held in the afternoon.

The cardinals will remain behind closed doors until the newly elected 267th pontiff has a clear blessing to lead the world's 1.4 billion Catholics. They are sworn to secrecy about the centuries-old process under threat of excommunication.

- 'Black smoke' -

Locked away to avoid distraction and leaks, their only means of communicating the outcome of their votes is by burning their ballots with chemicals to produce smoke. It is black if there is no decision, or white if they have chosen a new pope.

The previous two papal elections in 2005 and 2013 lasted two days apiece, but some in the previous century took as long as five. The longest ever lasted almost three years, between November 1268 and September 1271.

Ahead of the smoke, tens of thousands of people -- pilgrims, tourists and curious Romans -- had gathered in St Peter's Square, as warm dusk light flooded over the city's monuments. Groans erupted when the smoke signal failed to turn white -- the hoped-for signal of a successful vote.

But the mood was not sour.

"I don't mind that it's black smoke, it shows the Holy Spirit is at work. There will be other votes soon enough, we will get our pope," said 37-year-old James Kleineck, from Texas.

Barbara Mason, 50, travelled from Canada for the conclave, hoping to see a pope who would continue in Francis's progressive footsteps.

"I'm glad they've taken so much time because that means they're thinking carefully about who the pope will be," she said, suggesting that Francis's popular, bicycle-riding special envoy, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, would be a worthy choice.

The 2025 conclave is the largest and the most international ever, assembling cardinals from around 70 countries -- many of whom did not previously know each other.

Ahead of the vote there was no clear front-runner to succeed the charismatic Argentine Francis, with the cardinals representing a range of progressive and conservative traditions within the Church.

But the challenges facing the two-millennia-old institution are clear, and the new pope after his election will need to harness keen diplomacy amid geopolitical uncertainty, while addressing deep fractions within the Church.

There is also the continued fallout from the global clerical sex abuse scandal and, in the West, increasingly empty pews.

- What the Church needs -

The start of the conclave, with a solemn procession of cardinals and other clergy into the Sistine Chapel, was streamed live on large screens in front of St Peter's Basilica.

After first gathering for silent prayer in the Vatican's Pauline Chapel, they proceeded in a colourful procession escorted by Swiss Guards to the famed 15th-century chapel decorated by Michelangelo's frescoes.

During a mass in St Peter's Basilica on Wednesday morning, the dean of the College of Cardinals, Giovanni Battista Re, offered some final advice.

"We are here to invoke the help of the Holy Spirit, to implore his light and strength so that the pope elected may be he whom the Church and humanity need at this difficult and complex turning point in history," he said.

Battista Re himself is too old to vote, with cardinal electors required to be under the age of 80.

- Balcony address -

The mass marked the last rite to be celebrated publicly before the new pope is presented to the world from a balcony of St Peter's Basilica.

Around 80 percent of the cardinals voting were appointed by Francis -- an impulsive yet charismatic champion of the downtrodden.

But while some cardinals are looking to a new pope to protect and develop his legacy, others want a more conservative defender of doctrine.

More than a dozen names are circulating, from Italian Pierbattista Pizzaballa to Hungary's Peter Erdo and Sri Lanka's Malcolm Ranjith.

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O.Nardolillo--INP