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Black smoke billows from the chimney, indicating failure to elect a new pope on March 13 |
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A woman looks to the chimney of the Sistine Chapel on St. Peter's Square, waiting for the smoke |
Rome (CNN) -- Expectation is building once again in
Rome after the cardinals entered the Sistine Chapel for a second time
Wednesday to cast their votes in the secretive conclave for the next
pope.
Black smoke was sent up
from a chimney fixed to the chapel roof in the morning after two earlier
rounds of voting proved inconclusive.
Now all eyes are trained
on the chimney again, to see whether any candidate will this time reach
the two-thirds majority needed to be elected pope.
The 115 voting cardinals
are taking part in the second day of the secretive conclave to elect a
new head of the Roman Catholic Church.
If cardinals
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People shelter
under umbrellas while they wait in St. Peter's Square for news on the
election of a new pope on March 13 in Vatican City. |
elect a pope
in the latest round of voting Wednesday, a puff of white smoke could be
sent up as soon as 5:30 p.m. (12:30 p.m. ET).
If not, they will vote again -- their fourth and last ballot of the day.
If both votes are
inconclusive, black smoke will again be released from the chimney. The
cardinals will pray together before returning to the Vatican hotel,
where they stay in seclusion for the duration of the conclave.
In that case, voting will resume again Thursday in the Sistine Chapel, famed for its frescoes by Michelangelo.