Cardinals have elected a new Pope after white smoke billowed from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel on Thursday.
Thousands of pilgrims and curious onlookers in St Peter’s Square cheered and applauded as the smoke appeared and bells began to ring, indicating the 2,000-year-old institution has its 267th pope.
All eyes now turn to the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica to see who has been elected to succeed Pope Francis, an Argentine reformer who died last month after 12 years as leader of the worldwide Church.
The new pontiff will be introduced in Latin with his chosen papal name and address the world for the first time.
He faces a momentous task: as well as asserting his moral voice on a conflict-torn global stage, he faces burning Church issues from the continued fall-out from the sexual abuse scandal to the Vatican’s troubled balance sheets.
Some 133 “Princes of the Church” from five continents — the largest conclave ever — began voting on Wednesday afternoon.
Sworn to secrecy, on pain of excommunication, their only means of communicating their progress to the outside world was by sending up smoke through the chimney of the Sistine Chapel.
On Wednesday evening and then again on Thursday lunchtime, the smoke was black, emitting disappointed sighs from the tens of thousands watching.
