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Awaiting for anything to come out of the chimney for an hour past the expected timeline, the crowd at Saint Peter's Square could be heard cheering when smoke finally appeared just past 9 pm local time.
But, like a trend that does not want to end, we will be stuck wondering and praying as the smoke was black.
So what does this mean for us Catholics next?
According to the Vatican News, the official news of the Vatican City, there will be four rounds of votes that follow a specific procedure tomorrow.
Beginning in the morning, the first smoke if a pope has been chosen will likely appear at 10:30 am, and if no pope has been chosen, there should be a second round of voting with smoke appearing white (pope has been chosen) or black (pope has not been chosen) at around 12 pm.
Then, in the afternoon, a very similar procedure will be conducted. If a pope has been chosen in the first round, white smoke will likely appear at 5:30 pm local time. If no pope has been chosen, a second round will commence and either black or white smoke will appear around 7 pm.
For those trying to calculate that into your local time zone, here is a helpful converter to important cities:
Los Angeles: Thursday at 1:30 am, 3 am, 8:30 am, and 10 am
New York City: Thursday at 4:30 am, 6 am, 11:30 am, and 1 pm
Mumbai: Thursday at 2 pm, 3:30 pm, 9 pm, and 10:30 pm.
Shanghai: Thursday at 4:30 pm, 6 pm, 11:30 pm, and Friday at 1 am
This same process will occur on Friday, then a break on Saturday. After each three days of voting, the fourth day is for prayer, informal discussions, and a spiritual exhortation by the senior cardinal-deacon.
Furthermore, after an additional seven rounds of voting, a spiritual exhortation will come led by the senior cardinal-priest, and then if another seven rounds ensue, an exhortation led by the senior cardinal-bishop.
Each round needs 89 of the 133 cardinal-electors to vote for the same person who would become pope. If by the 21st round, no pope has been chosen, another break ensues. At this point, the cardinal-electors will only be able to vote for the top two candidates from the previous round. Still, one of those candidates will need 89 votes or else the process continues.
You can find out a lot more details with this article from the Vatican News.
Cole Kinder is a recent graduate of UCLA in political science with a focus on international relations. He has written one book, Foreign Policy in 4 Hours, Afghanistan 2021, and has written many articles on various websites such as Crisis Magazine. Cole Kinder specializes in international relations, domestic politics, religious studies (Catholicism), Slavic studies, sports, as well as geography.
