The 115 cardinal electors of the Roman Catholic Church will return to the Sistine Chapel today to resume the conclave that will elect the next pope.
The cardinals
started the conclave on Tuesday afternoon, but black smoke emerged from
the chapel's chimney a few hours afterwards, signaling that no candidate
had received the two-thirds majority -- 77 votes -- needed for
election. With such a wide open conclave, the failure to pick the next
pontiff on the first day did not come as a surprise.
However a key cardinal from the United States voiced optimism that a decision would be made soon. Before the conclave began, Cardinal Timothy Dolan said in a letter to his priests in New York that he believed a successor to the retired Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI would be picked by Thursday evening.
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Dolan himself is viewed as a potential candidate to become the next
pope, as is fellow American Cardinal Sean O'Malley from Boston. But
there has never been an American pope or any pope from outside of
Europe. Other candidates viewed as potential frontrunners are cardinals Angelo Scola of Italy, Marc Ouellet of Canada, Peter Erdo of Hungary and Odilo Scherer of Brazil.
After breaking for the night, the cardinals returned to their residence
at Santa Marta for a simple dinner of pasta with tomato sauce, soups,
and cheeses, according to Italian news agency ANSA. The plain, basic
fare -- no match for the fine food served across Rome -- may make the
cardinals more eager to wrap up their deliberations.
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As the cardinals kicked off the conclave Tuesday, the scene outside in St. Peter's Square was mostly calm, the crowd slow to gather as Rome was drenched in a steady rain. Despite one protest from a Ukrainian feminist organization that turned violent with Italian police, most of the crowd was peaceful, with many holding flags, singing, and praying.
Some Americans in Vatican City said they hope that the next pontiff will bring changes to the church and its 1.2 billion followers around the world.
"It's a great opportunity for the Catholic Church
to actually go through some reforms," said Tom Hever of Dallas. "They
have to be transparent for the younger people to believe. That is the
future of the Catholic Church: the next generation, our young people."
Full Coverage: The Papal Conclave
Another American, Tania Guerrero from Brian, Tex., said she believes that women are "not as high" as men in the eyes of the church.
"I feel like I'd like to see the new pope have more different ideas," she said.
With the cardinals now entering the second day of the conclave, the identity of that new pope could be revealed later today. Yet again, the eyes of the world will be trained on the chimney at the Sistine Chapel, waiting to see if white smoke will finally emerge.
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