As expected, there is still no agreement among the 133 cardinal electors of the 267th successor of Peter: the first smoke from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel, three hours after Extra Omnes, is black.

According to what we learn, a series of contributing factors would have weighed: first of all, the length of the meditation held by Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa, which lasted 45 minutes, but also the fact that the cardinals, in addition to being 18 more than in 2013, are mostly neophytes and several of them do not speak Italian. Therefore, the voting operations took considerably longer. Tomorrow we start again at 8, with four votes scheduled and two smokes: one in the morning and another in the evening .

Excited and also a little disappointed were the more than 40,000 people who silently waited patiently for hours for the outcome of the first vote. Thousands more remained connected to the Vatican News YouTube channel which broadcast live images of the chimney, a number that grew minute by minute as the smoke was delayed. It is impossible to know what happened, since the entire process is under absolute secrecy, but it is certain that the times were extended compared to those predicted by the Vatican Press Office, which had set the first outcome for around 7:00 p.m.

THE EXTRA OMNES

In the afternoon, after this morning's "pro eligendo" mass and the afternoon stop in the Pauline Chapel, the 133 cardinal electors (never so many) of the 267th successor of Peter reached in procession Michelangelo's masterpiece which has been the permanent seat of every Conclave since 1878.

Here, the singing of the “Veni Creator” and the invocation to the Holy Spirit. Then the oath, first collectively and then individually one by one. Latin is the language spoken in the Sistine Chapel: hymns, prayers and oath, before the start of the conclave, were pronounced in the ancient language of the Church.

Around 5:45 pm the "Extra Omnes" called by the Master of Ceremonies, Monsignor Diego Ravelli, the closing of the door and the official start of the Conclave, amid the applause of a packed St. Peter's Square. From this moment on, no connection between the cardinals and the outside world.

The tables covered with red drapes and brown tablecloths were arranged along the entire Sistine Chapel in four rows, slightly staggered, two on the right and two on the left.

Behind closed doors and away from the cameras, the cardinals – this is the procedure – listened to Cantalamessa's meditation at the end of which both he and the Master of Ceremonies left the Sistine Chapel. At that point the cardinal dean, who within the conclave is Pietro Parolin, asked the cardinals whether to proceed to the first scrutiny.

Then we moved on to the actual vote for the new Pope, for which the quorum was 89 votes, the highest in the history of conclaves.

THE NEW CONCLAVE

By creating 108 electors out of 133, Bergoglio has completely redrawn the constituency, making it less Euro-centric than in the past, with the suburbs having never been so well represented.

In the 12 Congregations that preceded the vote, the profile of "a Pope pastor, teacher of humanity, capable of embodying the face of a Samaritan Church, close to the needs and wounds of humanity" emerged among the cardinals. And, despite the divisions that emerged in the interventions, many agreed on the need to continue the reforms initiated by Francis: the fight against abuse, economic transparency, the reorganization of the Curia, synodality, commitment to peace and care for creation.

Meanwhile, next to the Sistine Chapel, in the Chapel of Tears that will welcome the future Pope, the white cassocks in three different sizes are already ready. They will be used to dress whatever the physique of the new bishop of Rome. To find him, we continue tomorrow, with four shifts, two in the morning (10:30 and 12) and two in the afternoon (17:30 and 19).

THE FAVORITES

The Italians, Pietro Parolin and Pierbattista Pizzaballa, enter as favorites, but the figure of Jean-Marc Aveline, the cardinal of Marseille, also stands out. A figure, this, close to Matteo Zuppi , and it will be seen in the next few hours whether the wing most in continuity with Francis will decide to focus on one or the other. A man of the curia, Robert Francis Prevost, who in recent years has dealt with the delicate dicastery of bishops, ascends.

For the most emerging Church, the Asian one, the names of the Filipino cardinals Luis Antonio Gokim Tagle and Pablo Virgilio Siongco David are repeated. And again: there is always the suggestion of the first African Pope with Fridolin Ambongo Besungu in pole position.

(Online Union)

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