Here's how the conclave creates black and white smoke and why the Catholic Church began using them to signal whether a new ...

Smoke signals have occurred at mid-morning, noon, mid-afternoon and evening. The longest conclave took three years.

At the end of each voting round, black smoke means a new pope has not yet to be selected, while white smoke indicates a new ...

A new pope will be selected when a candidate gets a two-thirds-plus-one majority vote by the cardinal electors. White smoke ...

After the ballots are pierced, they are burned in a cylindrical stove at the end of the voting session. Black smoke from the ...

Multiple rounds of voting likely will be required before a candidate emerges with the two-thirds majority required to become ...

As cardinals gather at the Sistine Chapel to begin voting for a successor to Pope Francis, there is no single frontrunner, ...

The 133 cardinals tasked with electing the next leader of the Catholic Church had their first vote on Wednesday.

The Vatican’s cardinals gather in conclave today to begin electing the successor to the late Pope Francis—which means the ...

Black smoke rose out of the Sistine Chapel chimney, signaling that the first vote of the conclave failed to reach the ...

For white smoke, a compound of the chemicals potassium chlorate, lactose, and rosin (also known as Greek pitch) is used, ...

Black smoke has poured out of the Sistine Chapel chimney, indicating no pope was elected on the first ballot of the conclave ...