CNN
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The black smoke left the chimney of the Sistine Chapel this Wednesday, which means that the Cardinals did not choose a new Pope on the first day of the conclave.
There is no clear favorite to assume the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church, and the cardinals will continue Thursday with a highly secret series of voting until they choose a successor of Pope Francis.
The 133 voters returned to Santa Marta’s house inside the Vatican, where they will remain isolated.
Meanwhile, the 1,400 million Catholics in the world will have to continue waiting, without clues about the future leader.
The cardinals have taken an oath of secrecy and have renounced their electronic devices to prevent communication outside the conclave, leaks or external surveillance. Cardinals and Vatican staff will only recover their phones and devices once the conclave is over.
Breaking the oath of secrecy results in automatic excommunication of the Church.
Outside, tens of thousands gathered while the Sun was put in the Plaza de San Pedro del Vaticano to observe the smoke signals that came out of the burned ballots, although it would have been very unusual for a new Pope to be selected after only one vote in the concolave.
The last two popes, Benedict XVI and Francisco, were named on the second day of voting. Before them, John Paul II was appointed on the third day.
during the next three days, up to four voting rounds per day will be held: two in the morning and two in the afternoon. If there is still no new pontiff for the fifth day, which falls on Sunday, the cardinals will take a rest of the vote and instead they will have time for prayer, reflection and informal discussion.
This conclave is destined to be a battle between those who want to continue with the reforms and vision of the late Pope Francis and those who want to change the course towards a more traditional papacy.
Two disparate fields of cardinals are joining under the “unity” flags, those looking for a more predictable papacy, or “diversity”, those who love someone who follows Francisco’s steps more closely.
Meanwhile, the conclave is carried out in the context of scandals of clerical sexual abuse that have shaken the Catholic Church and that many within the Church believe that they must be addressed with deep reforms.
There is no formal list of papal candidates, but some cardinals are being widely discussed as favorites: cardinal Filipino Luis Antonio “Chito” Tagle, the American cardinal Robert Prevost and the Italian cardinal Pietro Parolin, the former Secretary of State of the Vatican.
Much of the unpredictability is due to the reorganization of the Cardinals College by Francisco, with their appointments that better reflect the universal church and break the old unwritten book book to choose Cardinals, where a bishop of a certain diocese automatically received a red hat.
But the changes made by the late Pope also mean that many cardinals do not know each other and even had to use credentials with name during their meetings before the conclave.
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