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Cardinals in Vatican City failed again to elect a new pope, after two more inconclusive rounds of voting. Black smoke from the Sistine Chapel chimney signalled no decision, extending the secretive ...

2025 papal conclave continues for a second day at the Vatican, as more black smoke signals no new pope after a third vote.

Sequestered away from the world, they communicate their progress by burning their ballot papers and sending up smoke through the chimney of the frescoed 15th-century chapel. Black smoke means no one ...

Black smoke appeared from a chimney atop the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican on Thursday, signaling that cardinals meeting in a secret conclave did not elect a new pope during their two morning ballots.

Black smoke billowed from the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City around 4:30 a.m. Chicago time, indicating no pope was elected on the second of third ballots of the mysterious and secretive conclave.

Pope Francis was elected after five ballots, and white smoke on the second day of that conclave confirmed the news to the world in 2013. What does black smoke mean?

Black smoke billows from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel during the conclave to elect a new pope, at the Vatican, Thursday, May 8, 2025.

Historically, the white smoke was created by burning the ballots together with dry straw. The black smoke was made from the ballots, wet straw, and with the addition of pitch to darken the color.

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

Black smoke is again pouring out of the Sistine Chapel chimney, indicating that no pope was elected on second or third ballots.