Conclave Day 2: Still No Pope After Cardinals’ Morning Vote

Voting is expected to resume around 4 p.m. local time.

Nuns walk in St Peter's square in The Vatican, Italy, on May 4, 2025. The conclave begins on May 7, when a record 133 cardinals, those under the age of 80 who are eligible to vote, will enter the Sistine Chapel to vote in secret for a new pontiff. Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP via Getty Images

Black smoke rose again from the Sistine Chapel just before noon on May 8, signalling that the cardinals’ first vote on the second day of their Conclave to elect a new pope was unsuccessful.

According to the Vatican, the cardinals departed their residence at the Domus Sanctae Marthae early to celebrate Mass and then gather in the Sistine Chapel for mid-morning prayer and the first vote just after 9 a.m. local time.