Conclave live: Cardinals begin voting on second day of conclave. Here are key moments to watch for

Sky News

08-05-2025

Conclave day two
Cardinals begin new round of voting after failing to elect pope yesterday - and now we wait to see smoke
White smoke above Sistine Chapel signals a successor is chosen, but black smoke signals the wait goes on
Key timings today
Reporting by Europe correspondent Siobhan Robbins and Europe producer Simone Baglivo in Vatican City. Updates by Kieren Williams
In depth
08:52:01
Nuns arrive in St Peter's Square
Before the cardinals were locked in to the Sistine Chapel this morning for the next round of voting, nuns have been arriving at St Peter's Square.
Women are barred from the priesthood, meaning only men elect the head of the Catholic Church, a faith of 1.4 billion people.
Despite that, they play an important, if less prominent, role in the Catholic Church.
08:40:01
Watch: Moment black smoke rose over Sistine Chapel
This was the moment black smoke rose over the Sistine Chapel last night.
It signalled the cardinals' failure to elect a new pontiff in the first round of voting.
08:30:01
Cardinals begin next round of voting
It's 8.30am, which means the cardinals have begun the next round of voting to elect a new pontiff.
The doors of the Sistine Chapel have been sealed and the 133 men are beginning their second round of voting.
It is the first of two rounds of voting this morning, with two more taking place this afternoon.
If it is successful, we'll see white smoke above the Sistine Chapel.
If it isn't, another round of voting will take place, and if that fails too, we'll see black smoke.
Stick with us for the latest...
08:15:50
How Pope Francis is playing role in electing his successor
While we're all asking who will replace Pope Francis, the late pontiff himself is playing his own role in the process.
The cardinals of the Catholic Church aged under 80 are those locked in the Sistine Chapel for the secretive vote.
There are 133 of them this time around, and the Pope named 108 of them.
He chose many of them from countries such as Mongolia, Sweden and Tonga that had never had a cardinal before.
Francis's decision to surpass the usual limit of 120 cardinal electors has both lengthened the amount of time it takes for each vote to be processed and also injected more uncertainty into the vote.
Also as a result of his work, this conclave is the most geographically diverse in the faith's 2,000-year history.
08:01:53
Key timings on second day of conclave
The cardinals will vote up to four times each day in two sessions - two in the morning and two in the afternoon, with smoke seen at the end of each session. All the following are UK times:
The morning voting session runs from 8.30am-11.30am, with two votes taking place during this session.
We expect to see smoke - be it black or white - at around 12pm.
If the smoke is black, meaning no pope has been elected, the second round of voting today will run from 3.30pm-6.00pm.
Again, two rounds of voting will take place - and we'll see smoke at the end of the session.
07:39:49
In pictures: Faithful queue for spot in St Peter's Square
Tens of thousands of people waited to see smoke above the Sistine Chapel in St Peter's Square last night - and crowds are gathering again this morning.
07:39:43
Cardinals return for day two of voting
Welcome back to our live coverage of the conclave as the wait for a new pope goes on.
Last night, black smoke above the Sistine Chapel signalled the 133 cardinals had failed to elect a replacement for Pope Francis in the first round of voting - four hours after they entered the building.
At 8.30am UK time this morning, they will return to the Sistine Chapel to continue voting.
Up to four rounds of voting can take place each day - two in the morning and two in the afternoon.
Last night we expected to see smoke above the chapel at 6pm but it didn't come until 8pm. Vatican sources told Sky News that the delay in yesterday's voting was for two reasons:
The sermon by Raniero Cantalamessa, an Italian cardinal, was longer than expected (between 45 minutes and one hour);
Several cardinals needed help with the translation.
It remains a wide-open election with one of the biggest and most geographically diverse College of Cardinals in history.
To win, one man needs to secure a two-thirds majority of the 133 cardinals, or 89 votes, to become the 267th pope.
For recent popes, it has generally taken a few rounds of voting to elect a successor.
When a successor is chosen, white smoke will rise from the Sistine Chapel.
The cardinals began the secretive, centuries-old ritual yesterday afternoon, participating in a rite so theatrical that Hollywood recreated it this year in the Ralph Fiennes-led film.
The voting is undertaken secretly and in silence, a process designed to be free from external interference.
Large crowds gathered outside the chapel in St Peter's Square yesterday to wait for the first smoke signal and are already returning this morning.
Stay with us for the latest throughout the day.
22:55:06
That's all for this evening
That concludes our coverage of the first day of conclave.
As expected, cardinals sent black smoke out of the Sistine Chapel, meaning no decision has been made on Pope Francis's successor.
It means the 133 cardinals have not come to a decision in the first vote of the conclave, and the process continues.
There will now be a maximum of four votes a day from tomorrow until a new pope is elected.
Still, tens of thousands of believers waited in the Vatican to take in the proceedings, which began with Mass and a march of the cardinals.
Cardinals will go to pray in the Pauline Chapel at 7.45am tomorrow - that's 6.45am in the UK.
Then they'll go into the Sistine Chapel to vote at 9.30am local time (8.30am UK time).
We'll bring you the latest updates as they happen. Until then, goodnight.
22:35:45
'Collective groan' when black smoke emerged
There was a "collective groan" when black smoke emerged, our Europe correspondent Siobhan Robbins, who is at the Vatican, says.
She says it had been a "tense few hours" before the black smoke finally emerged from the Sistine Chapel.
"As each hour ticked by, the tension rose and if someone clapped or thought they had seen smoke, everyone then peered to try and catch a glimpse of it - but then there was no result hour after hour," she says.
"And then people started wondering if we were going to get a pope. And then nerves frayed even further."
She says when the black smoke rose there was a "collective groan" and people started leaving St Peter's Square "very quickly".
Robbins also says people from around the world had arrived to the Vatican "wanting to be a part of history" and see who would follow Pope Francis.
22:00:09
How did the first round of voting unfold?
No pope was elected today.
And so cardinals will return to voting tomorrow.
Here, we take a look at how today unfolded at the Sistine Chapel...
Just after 3.30pm UK time , the 133 cardinals began filing into the Sistine Chapel, where the conclave takes place;
After taking their positions in the chapel they placed their birettas on the table as they took a collective oath of secrecy;
They then took their individual oath of secrecy;
At around 4.43pm, cardinal George Jacob Koovakad, who was the last to enter, took his oath;
And at around 4.47pm, the doors to the Sistine Chapel were closed - and the conclave to elect a new pope was under way;
Finally, at 8pm UK time, black smoke emerged from chimney - meaning conclave will continue tomorrow.