Conclave for the election of the Pope, the first smoke is black

"Forty-five thousand in St. Peter's Square await the smoke". Vatican News writes this on its X profile adding the hashtags #conclave and #fumata.

On 12 March 2013, the year Pope Francis was elected, the extra omnes was pronounced at 5.33pm in the first meeting of the conclave and the first black smoke was there at 7.41pm, two hours and eight minutes later. Today (there are 18 more cardinal electors in the conclave) the extra omnes was given at 5.43pm and, some two hours and 40 minutes later, there has still been no smoke.

Over 30,000 are present in St. Peter's Square waiting for the smoke that should arrive shortly after the first vote of the cardinals gathered in the Conclave to elect the new pope. The entire Vatican area is being flown over by a police helicopter and public order and security operations are being managed by the Rome Questura Cabinet Office, from the Sala Grandi Eventi in Via di San Vitale. The number of people present in St. Peter's Square, the Questura reports, is constantly increasing.

Eyes and telephoto lenses around the world are focused on the chimney of the Sistine Chapel from where the first smoke could come out tonight. A seagull watches over the situation

The master of ceremonies, Monsignor Diego Ravelli, closed the door of the Sistine Chapel, thus officially starting the conclave for the election of the 267th Pope.

With the "extra omnes" pronounced by the maestro of the papal liturgical celebrations, Monsignor Diego Ravelli, the conclave to elect the 267th Pope begins. All the bystanders now leave the Sistine Chapel, inside which only the cardinal electors, the maestro himself and the ecclesiastic charged with giving the last meditation before the voting, Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa, remain. Once everyone had left, the maestro closed the door to the Sistine Chapel. At the end of the meditation, the maestro and Cardinal Cantalamessa also leave the Sistine Chapel and the voting operations begin.

With their hand on the Gospel, each individual cardinal elector prepares to take the oath in the election for the new Pope. Once their name has been pronounced, each cardinal proceeds to the formula of the oath. "I promise, I oblige and I swear," they say and then place their hand on the Gospel and continue: "So help me God and these holy Gospels I touch with my hand. The first cardinal to take the oath was Pietro Parolin.

The cardinals, before beginning the work of the conclave, first swear together and then individually. They swear before God to be faithful to their task in the event of their election as Pope and also swear secrecy about the work of the conclave. Reading the oath, on behalf of all, is Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who presides over the conclave.

The cardinal electors have all arrived in the Sistine Chapel. They invoke, on the work about to begin, the protection of the Holy Spirit with the traditional rite "Veni, creator Spiritus".

Bosnian Cardinal Vinko Puljić, Archbishop Emeritus of Sarajevo, until recent days in doubt due to illness about participating in the Conclave and then about a possible vote from Casa Santa Marta, is present among the cardinal electors who have gathered in the Pauline Chapel and then march in procession towards the Sistine Chapel. All 133 electors participating in this Conclave will therefore vote from the Sistine. Puljic, who will be 80 years old next 8 September, was created a cardinal on 26 November 1994 by Pope John Paul II.

The cardinal electors are moving in procession towards the Sistine Chapel where the conclave for the election of the 267th Pope will soon officially begin. After leaving Casa Santa Marta, the cardinals reached the Pauline Chapel for a final moment of prayer before the extra omnes. From here they are moving towards the Sistine Chapel.

Everything is ready for the conclave that will start at 4.30 pm. It will be the Indian Catholic Cardinal and Archbishop, George Jacob Koovakad, who will start the voting to elect the new Pope. Koovakad, since 7 October 2021 organiser of papal travels and since 24 January 2025 prefect of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue, will be the one to close the door of the Sistine Chapel when the electors gathered in conclave are to be left alone. As the last cardinal of the order of deacons, it is in fact up to the Indian cardinal to close the door of the Sistine Chapel, after the extra omnes has already been pronounced, which is the task of the Master of Liturgical Celebrations, this time Monsignor Diego Ravelli. He will always be the one to open and close it again whenever needed during the conclave. As the last of the order of deacons, Koovakad will also be the first to make his entrance into the Sistine Chapel, as the cardinals march in procession towards the chapel in reverse order of precedence to reach their assigned seats. Born in Chethipuzha, India, 51 years ago, he was ordained a priest on 24 July 2004, incardinating in Changanacherry.

The cardinal electors have arrived in the Pauline Chapel of the Apostolic Palace. From here the procession will start towards the Sistine Chapel in which, after the Extra Omnes, the conclave for the election of the new Pope will begin.

As the time of the conclave approaches, security measures in the Vatican increase. As announced in recent days, the "shielding" of the mobile and data network across the entire state has begun, to prevent the cardinal electors from coming into contact with the outside world and, therefore, to ensure that there is no influence on the vote. The switching off of the cell towers inside the Vatican is, however, also having some repercussions in the area of St. Peter's Square where mobile phones are beginning to have difficulty using instant messaging apps.

Parolin's friend: 'I heard him, he said "see you soon"'

"I last wrote to Parolin yesterday afternoon, telling him that I hoped that whatever happened we would remain in the same relationship. He answered me this morning, at 7.51am, he said "thank you for what you tell me, it is my last message before entering the Conclave". And then he wrote 'see you soon'. This heartens me about the timing of the Conclave...'. Roberto Apo Ambrosi, a former school friend of Card. Pietro Parolin.

"We do not have a real candidate, but we would like to see a Pope elected who continues the path of Francis. We must start from here'. Alessio and his wife are convinced of this, having arrived at Via della Conciliazione from the province of Padua to attend the conclave that will elect Peter's successor. There are those who instead express a preference, based on their football supporters: "I would like to see Cardinal Zuppi after Bergoglio, I cheer for the Romanista," says Giuseppe, originally from the province of Foggia but a student in the capital. His friend Aurora echoes him: 'I would like either Parolin or Zuppi to be elected. I hope not Besungu or another conservative'. On the subject of Francis, everyone agrees on him: 'He was an A-plus Pontiff,' explains Alessio, 'a wonderful Pope, who gave all of himself for the poor and the people. Finally, for the young students, 'the new bishop of Rome must absolutely follow and continue the path inaugurated by Francis, he must take the Church forward, he cannot go backwards. Also because the world does not stop'.

The great day of the conclave has arrived and the Jubilee of Hope does not stop. The crowds of pilgrims animating the Holy Year pass through St. Peter's Square back and forth, even though access to the basilica was naturally suspended during the celebration of the 'Pro eligendo pontifice' mass. At the conclusion of the rite, St. Peter's was reopened. The holy doors of the other papal basilicas and related events remain

"The Conclave is made up of bishops who come from all over the world, I am not saying that the new Pope will be Italian, but it should not be ruled out". Thus Cardinal Paolo Romeo, Archbishop Emeritus of Palermo, guest of 'L'Intervista' on Rei Tv. "Certainly Pope Francis, who has had so many merits, leaves a Curia in distress not because of economic problems but because right now there is not much harmony within, even at the local level of the Vicariate of Rome," he continued, "It will not be a long Conclave anyway, after the fifth or sixth vote the new Pope will be elected.

Before the silence to which they will be forced during the conclave, many cardinals greeted followers with one last post. The Archbishop of Santiago de Chile, Fernando Chomalí, first posted a video on X where he washed his white shirt in a sink to enter the conclave and then made a post in which he said: "Today I enter the conclave without a mobile phone. Only before God can one vote on who will be Pope. A responsibility that overwhelms me'. The Cardinal of Algiers, Jean-Paul Vesco, on the other hand, greets his Facebook 'friends' like this: 'Tonight I enter the silence of the conclave, I can't wait... this archaic 11th century institution is demonstrating incredible modernity in the time of over-mediation, social media and our digital addictions. No more phones or internet, the windows of our rooms are sealed.... We will come out with the proclamation, "Habemus papam!" What an adventure indeed!" Conservative Cardinal Raymond Burke also chooses Facebook and in a video launches an appeal: "Your prayers are urgently needed for the cardinals who enter the conclave to choose the successor of St Peter". The youngest member of the college, Ukrainian Mykola Byčok, also makes a post before switching off and leaving his mobile phone. But he is not only thinking about the onerous task ahead of him, at only 45 years of age, which is the election of the new Pope. "While in the Sistine Chapel I will pray for just peace in Ukraine," he writes on social media.

"Best wishes... and double": this is what Cardinal Dean John Baptist Re said to Cardinal Pietro Parolin during the exchange of peace at Mass. Big hugs, far beyond the simple liturgical sign, and big smiles between the two.

More than five thousand faithful in St. Peter's Basilica were present at the 'pro eligendo' Mass, presided over by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re. The estimate is from the Vatican media. Many people are following the service, which precedes the entrance of the cardinals into the conclave this afternoon, even in St. Peter's Square, through the maxi-screens, despite the alternating sun and rain.

"Today's world expects much from the Church for the safeguarding of those fundamental, human and spiritual values, without which human coexistence will not be better nor a bearer of good for future generations". This was said by Cardinal Dean Giovanni Battista Re at the conclusion of his homily at the Mass "Pro eligendo Romano Pontifice", concelebrated in St. Peter's Basilica with the cardinal electors participating in the Conclave. "May the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, intervene with her maternal intercession, so that the Holy Spirit may enlighten the minds of the Cardinal electors and make them agree in the election of the Pope that our time needs," he added.

The cardinals, both those who participated in the Conclave and the non-electors, are in St. Peter's Basilica, where the 'Pro eligendo Romano Pontifice' Mass is being celebrated this morning. The mass is concelebrated by the cardinal electors and presided over by the Dean of the College of Cardinals, Giovanni Battista Re. This morning, the cardinals who had not yet done so, completed their accommodation in their rooms in the Casa Santa Marta residence or in the adjacent Santa Marta Vecchia, where they will stay during these days of Conclave. This afternoon at 4.20pm, in the First Loggia of the Vatican Apostolic Palace, with the procession of the electors from the Pauline Chapel to the Sistine Chapel, the preliminary operations of the Conclave will begin, to be followed by the first vote and, in the late afternoon, the first 'smoke'.

Everything is ready for the conclave that will elect the 267th pope in the history of the Catholic Church. All 133 cardinal electors have arrived in Rome. The first smoke is expected at 7pm. In the last congregation on Tuesday, 6 May, the cardinals addressed the issues of abuse and Vatican accounts, but above all took note of Francis' legacy against wars