At 11:40 a.m. Rome time, the second ballot in the election of the Catholic Church’s next Pope once again emitted black smoke as the Papal Conclave convened to find St. Peter’s Successor, according to News. VA, March 13.
The Cardinal Electors’ morning began with prayer at a Mass within the Pauline Chapel from 8:15 to 9:15 a.m. At 9:30 they entered the Sistine Chapel, prayed the Liturgy of the Hours, and then preceded with the two morning scrutinies that led to the black “fumata”, twenty minutes earlier than expected.
The faithful Catholic have gathered in St. Peter’s Square awaiting the white smoke, which will signal a new Pontiff amid media concerns that after two unsuccessful votes of the Papal Conclave, there may be issues amongst the Cardinals. However, Father Federico Lombardi, Director of the Holy See Press Office, reported the results reassuring the public of this moment in history.
We are living a particularly beautiful and intense moment. We have reached the final stage of the period that began last month with Benedict XVI's renunciation and that will conclude with the election of his successor. We can feel the excitement growing: we can see it and feel it. Yesterday evening there was already a large number of people awaiting the “fumata”, even more than I was expecting.
Yesterday nobody was expecting a white “fumata”, nor today either. This is very normal. Looking back over the Conclaves held in the last century, only Pius XII, at the outset of the Second World War, was elected at the first scrutiny. None of the cardinals participating in the Papal Conclave are ill. The rapidity of the vote shows it. Making use of the 'Infirmarii' (those who bring one of the voting urns to any cardinals who are too ill to attend the proceedings in the Sistine Chapel) would require more time. That is why I think that they are all within the Sistine Chapel.
When asked of the chemical composition (potassium perchlorate and anthracene with sulfur) used to create the black smoke, Father Lombardi reported that it hadn’t damaged Michelangelo’s frescos or effected the health of the Cardinals’ present within the Papal Conclave.
A vote is once again expected from the Sistine Chapel between 5:30 and 6 p.m., Vatican time, or 12:30 and 1 p.m., New York time, with white or black smoke following signifying the decision of the Papal Conclave and the next Pope of the Catholic Church. Watch the events unfold live, broadcast via Vatican Radio on YouTube.
Sources: News.VA, Facebook/News.VA and "New York Times"
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