The cardinals, who have been voting to choose one of them to be the next head of the Catholic Church, which has over 1 billion members worldwide, assembled once more on Thursday in the Sistine Chapel.
Following three ballots with no consensus and the conclusion of the second round of voting, black smoke rose from the church chimney once more on Thursday morning.
It will take a two-thirds majority of the cardinals to elect a successor to Pope Francis, who passed away on April 21.
The ringing of St. Peter’s Basilica bells and white smoke will both indicate the election of a new pope.
An estimated 45,000 people gathered in St Peter’s Square to await the results of the first conclave vote, which had been expected some time after 7 p.m. but ended up coming in around 9 p.m., according to Vatican News.
After failing to come to a consensus, the College of Cardinals gathered on Thursday morning for the second day of conclave, with up to four more opportunities for them to select the 267th pope.
More than 30,000 people had gathered in the square on Wednesday to wait for the results of the first round of voting.
Crowds of people gathered to enter St. Peter’s Square for day two of the conclave, hopeful that the first full day of voting by cardinal electors will produce a new pope.
