00:01Thick black smoke spewing out of the small chimney on the roof of the Sistine Chapel,
00:06signalling that Cardinals failed to elect a new Pope on the first day of voting.
00:11They've been locked in the building since Wednesday afternoon,
00:15as the secretive gathering known as the Conclave to choose the global Catholic Church leader got underway.
00:22Around the world and on St Peter's Square in front of the chapel,
00:25people had been watching with bated breath for several hours for the first sign.
00:31And it was at just past nine in the evening local time that the black smoke was spotted,
00:36indicating that Cardinals had failed to reach consensus.
00:40White smoke and the pealing of bells will have signalled that the 133 men from some 70 countries had chosen the 267th Pope.
00:50There's no time limit as to how long the conclave can go on,
00:53but given that it's the most geographically diverse one in the faith's 2,000-year history,
00:58it's expected to last a few days.
01:01The Cardinal needs a two-thirds majority to win the centuries-old secret voting ritual.
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