According to Reuters, thousands of believers gathered at St. Peter's Square on May 7, waiting for the moment smoke flew from a narrow chimney on the roof of the monastery, ending a day full of ceremony and solemnity.
Although no one expected a result on the first day, the waiting time for the smoke to appear lasted more than 3 hours, causing the crowd to be more patient than usual. Compared to the 2013 feast, when Pope Francis was chosen, this time the black smoke appeared 1 hour later.
According to Vatican tradition, white smoke signals that the new papal has been elected, while black smoke means that no one has enough votes. To be selected, a candidate must reach at least 2/3 of the votes - equivalent to 89 out of a total of 133 pink doctors participating in this year's vote.
Cardinals under 80 years old entered the Sistine chapel after oath of keeping a secret, only communicating through smoke from the chimney of the charm. During the night, they were staying at two Vatican guests, where unofficial exchanges could take place before continuing 2 rounds of voting in the morning of 8.5 and 2 rounds in the afternoon.
No outstanding candidates have yet emerged, although Italian doctor Pietro Parolin and Philippine doctor Luis Antonio Tagle are considered the top two candidates. However, if they realize that none of them can get a majority of the votes, the doctors can switch to other candidates, based on geography, theory or common language factors.
Other names mentioned are Jean-Marc Aveline (France), Peter Erdo (Hungary), Robert Prevost and pierbattista pizzaballa (Italy).
This year's proposal has a record participation of 133 cardinals from 70 countries, more than 115 people from 48 countries in 2013, reflecting the efforts of the late pope Francis in expanding the geographical influence of the Church.
In his pre-amperature speech, Italian artist Giovanni battista Re (91 years old) did not participate in the vote, calling on the doctors to eliminate all personal calculations and only think about "the interests of the Church and humanity". He emphasized that unity in diversity is a key factor of the Church.
