Papal conclave ballots have been burned to maintain secrecy for centuries. Ballot smoke has been used to announce a decision ...

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

and white smoke indicates that a new pope has been selected. Here's what to know about the black and white smoke used during ...

The election for a new pope continues as black smoke above the Sistine Chapel signals that the cardinals have cast their ...

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

Live updates: Black smoke signals no pope named in today's first conclave ballots More: How accurate is the movie 'Conclave' about the election of a new pope? A papal conclave is an election of a ...

Black smoke rising from the Sistine Chapel chimney on Wednesday and again Thursday morning indicated that a new pope had not yet been ... key," are locked away with no contact to the outside ...

John Paul I — the pope who reigned for 33 days in 1978 — was elected on the fourth ballot. His successor, John Paul II, ...

The Vatican conclave will continue on Thursday with as many as four more rounds of voting. A two-thirds majority of the 133 cardinals is required to select a new leader for the world’s 1.4 billion ...

This tells the world that no pope has been chosen ... The smoke colors aren’t all-natural. In the past, smoke color depended on how the ballots burned, but sometimes they weren’t easy for ...

Those who knew Pope Leo XIV as a younger man say his path to the papacy has prepared him well for the challenges ahead.