Conclave live: New Pope chosen in historic vote

A new pope has been elected following the secretive conclave meeting in the Vatican.

White smoke has poured from the Sistine Chapel chimney, signalling that the 133 cardinals have agreed with at least a two-thirds majority on who should be the new leader of the Catholic Church.

White smoke pours out of Sistine Chapel meaning we have anew Pope.

Results of the fourth conclave vote were expected at about 17:30 local time (16:30 BST).

However, no white smoke has been seen yet and we have no way of knowing what is going on inside the Sistine Chapel.

If this ballot is unsuccessful there will be no black smoke saying a pope has not been chosen this time.

But later this evening there will be a final vote at about 19:00 local time (18:00 BST).

Television crews working at St. Peter’s square wait to see smoke pour from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel where 133 cardinals are gathering on the second day of the conclave to elect a successor to late Pope Francis, at the Vatican.

Large school groups joined the people awaiting the outcome in St. Peter’s Square.

They blended in with people participating in preplanned Holy Year pilgrimages and journalists from around the world who have descended on Rome to document the election.

“The wait is marvellous!” said Priscilla Parlante, a Roman.

“We are hoping for the white smoke tonight,” said Pedro Deget, 22, a finance student from Argentina.

He said he and his family visited Rome during the Argentine pope’s pontificate and were hoping for a new pope in Francis’ image.

“Francis did well in opening the church to the outside world, but on other fronts maybe he didn’t do enough. We’ll see if the next one will be able to do more,” Deget said from the piazza.

The Rev. Jan Dominik Bogataj, a Slovene Franciscan friar, was more critical of Francis.

He said if he were in the Sistine Chapel, he’d be voting for Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem who is on many papal contender lists.”

He has clear ideas, not much ideology. He’s a direct, intelligent and respectful man,” Bogataj said from the square.

“Most of all, he’s agile.”

As the world waits and watches the Sistine Chapel chimney there are high hopes a pope will be chosen soon.

“I hope by this evening, returning to Rome, I’ll find white smoke,” said Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the 91-year-old dean of the College of Cardinals who presided over the Mass before the conclave.

Re is not participating in the balloting because only cardinals under 80 are eligible to cast votes.

Re, who was quoted by Italian media as speaking Thursday in Pompeii, said he was certain the 133 cardinals would elect “the pope that the church and world need today.”

Smoke will only appear from the Sistine Chapel chimney within the next half an hour or so if the conclave has elected a Pope.

If they have chosen, white smoke will emerge from the Sistine Chapel chimney, and not too long after that the next Pope will be revealed on the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica.

If there is no smoke, it means the cardinals have failed to reach a two-thirds majority to choose a new Pope.

After their first round of afternoon votes is tallied and confirmed, they will immediately begin the second round of voting.

Then, around 6pm British time, the conclave will burn all the ballots and send out a smoke signal: white, a pope has been elected, or black, meaning they must continue their deliberations tomorrow.

The world is watching the Sistine Chapel chimney, to see if the conclave has elected a new Pope. Watch live here:

Young people, nuns, tourists and thousands more have continued to gather in St Peter’s Square, hoping to be there when the conclave sends out white smoke to signal they have elected a new Pope.

The Vatican News estimates 15,000 have gathered in the square to watch the Sistine Chapel chimney, and to hopefully catch a glipse of the next Pope when he is revealed on the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica.

A little earlier, we explained how the cardinal electors cast their ballots. After that, they must be counted, and this is how that process works.

Three cardinals are nominated as scrutineers. Once the votes have been cast, one of the scrutineers shakes the chalice containing the ballots, and another then counts them and places them one by one into a separate empty container, The Vatican News reports.

All three scrutineers then sit at a table in front of the altar. The first reads the name written on the ballot, and passes it to the next scrutineer, who confirms the name before passing it to the third, who then reads the name aloud. The vote is then recorded.

To elect a new Pope, at least 89 of those ballots must name the same person.

Once this process is complete, the votes are tallied, and then the third scrutineer uses a needle and thread to string the ballots together.

The votes are verified by revisers, and then, before the cardinals leave the chapel, the votes are burned.