No one can secure the necessary two-thirds majority or 89 votes, and the Cardinal will retire to the Vatican residence that night.
They returned to Sistine Church on Thursday morning.
This is a breaking news update. The early stories of AP are as follows.
Vatican City (AP) – The gates of Sistine Church closed after the call of “Extra Omnes” – Latin “Go to the fullest” – 133 cardinals began secret, centuries-long rituals, electing a new pope to lead the Catholic church, opening up the most geographical location in the history of faith 2,000 years. When the Swiss Guards caught the attention, the red cardinals entered the Sistine Church in pairs, chanting the meditative “saints”. The hymn begs the saints to help the Cardinal find Pope Francis’ successor to lead 1.4 billion Catholic churches. Secretary of State Pietro Parolin under Francis was the main contender for inheriting the Pope.
Parolin stood before Michelangelo’s vision of heaven and hell while speaking in Latin, “The Last Judgment” and led the Cardinal on a long list of vows. Everyone follows closely behind, put his hands on the gospel and hopefully maintaining maximum confidentiality in Latin.
This dramatic ritual is more colorful than Hollywood can create, with colors, odes, fragrance and solemn washing, emphasizing the severity of the present moment. Outside St. Peter's Square, the scene was almost festive as hundreds of people watched the lawsuit on giant video screens, clapping as the door of the Sistine Church closed and cut off the Vatican feed.
But after nearly three hours of waiting, as dinner time approached, many in many crowds were frustrated by how long the process would take and wondered if the vote was made.
“My hope is that the Cardinal Church chooses someone who can be the creator of peace and can unify the church,” said Gabriel Capry, 27, of London.
Cardinal A group of cardinals from 70 countries were isolated from the outside world, their cell phones surrendered and around the Vatican to prevent all communications until they found a new pope.
Francis named 108 of the 133 “Church Princes” as 108, selecting many pastors from distant countries such as Mongolia, Sweden and Tonga, which have never had a cardinal before.
His decision to exceed the usual limits of 120 cardinal voters and including young voters from the Global South (usually marginalized economic influence countries) has injected unusual uncertainty in a process that has always been full of mystery and suspense.
Many cardinals didn’t meet until last week and lamented that they needed more time to get to know each other and raised a question that a man could ensure a two-thirds majority (or 89 votes) would be the 89 votes needed to be the 267th Pope.
“Wait a moment, be patient,” said Cardinal Mario Zenari, Vatican Ambassador to Syria.
Earlier in the day, the final mass was “to go all out” and was the dean of the Cardinal College, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, who presided over the morning mass at St. Peter’s Basilica, urging voters to put aside all personal interests and find a pope who claimed unity. He prayed for a pope who could awaken the world's conscience.
He reminded the Cardinals, especially the amazing frescoes of the Sistine Church, and especially the Michelangelo's dishes, to remind the Cardinals to take on the heavy responsibilities they assumed. St. John Paul II wrote in the statutes on the meeting: “Everything is beneficial to the consciousness of God’s existence.”
After the cardinal took the oath, Archbishop Diego Ravelli, the owner of the Pope's liturgy, announced the “extra omnes” and no one was qualified to leave before the church door was closed. An elderly cardinal still had to meditate, but after completion, he had to leave.
The Cardinals don't have to make their first vote on Wednesday, but they are expected to do it. Assuming no winner was found, the Vatican said, after 7pm, 9pm, arrived, and could stand out from the chimney of the Sistine Church, without news about taking so long.
The Cardinal eventually retired to the evening and returned on Thursday morning. They can hold up to two votes in the morning and two votes in the afternoon until the winner is found.
Although the Cardinals said this week they expected a brief meeting, it may take at least a few rounds of votes. For much of the past century, it has conducted three to 14 votes to find the Pope. John Paul I – The Pope, who ruled for 33 days in 1978, was elected for the fourth vote. His successor, John Paul II, needed eight. Francis was elected fifth in 2013.
Lobbying at the meeting would have increased in Rome during the days before the meeting as the cardinals resisted any “secular” influences of their choices, as various groups reminded the Cardinal of what the leader ordinary Catholics wanted.
The young Catholic wrote an open letter reminding the Cardinal that there were no young people, and women and lay people did not have churches. The conservative Catholic media slipped over a cardinal copy of the glossy book containing their assessment of the competitors. Survivors of clergy sexual abuse warned the Cardinals that they would take responsibility if they failed to find a leader who would hit decades of abuse and cover-up.
Advocates of women’s appointments sent a pink smoke signal on Wednesday at the Vatican, demanding that women be allowed to become pastors and attend meetings.
Even the White House was involved, posting photos of President Donald Trump wearing the pope. Trump said it was a joke, but former Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi condemned the gesture because it was a “indecent” political intervention, a “indecent” political intervention in the affairs of faith, returning to a time when secular rulers intervened in conclusions and habitually waved religion to remain in power.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the Archbishop of New York, said the Cardinal itself had a lot of lobbying.
“You invite each other,” Dolan said on Siriusxm's Catholic Channel before the meeting began. “And you're blunt. Now, we're not trading horses here. We're saying, 'Tell me this guy. You're from Latin America. Go through the bishop list. Tell me some of these guys. Do I have the right to be fascinated by this guy?'”
Lisette Herrera, a 54-year-old tourist from the Dominican Republic, was deeply moved and found herself stumbled upon herself at the beginning of Rome. She decided to skip the Spanish steps and the Trevi Fountain on Wednesday morning and pray in St. Peter's Square.
“I’m praying to the Holy Spirit, praying for a young pope who will be with us for a long time,” she said. “I don’t believe in convention politics, I just feel like the Holy Spirit is here, and that’s everything we need to know.”
The challenges faced by the new pope Many challenges face the new pope and weigh the cardinal – most importantly, whether to continue and consolidate Francis’ progressive legacy in promoting women, LGBTQ+ acceptance, environment and immigration, or roll back to unify a church that became more polarized during his post. The sexual abuse scandal of clergy hangs in pre-criticism negotiations.
Since Francis chose 80% of voters, it is likely to be continuity, but the form it may take is uncertain and identifying the leader is a challenge.
But, besides Palorin, some names keep appearing in the list of “Papapabir” or the Cardinal has the papal qualities.
– 67-year-old Philippine Cardinal Luis Tagle is the first top candidate for Asian pope in history. He is in charge of the Vatican's evangelical office and is in charge of the Catholic Church in most developing countries.
– Hungarian Cardinal Peter Erdo, 72, Archbishop of Budapest, is a leading candidate for representing the church's more conservative wings.
