No Pope was elected on the first day of the conclave to choose the 267th successor of St. Peter. Black smoke billowed from the Sistine Chapel chimney at 9:00 p.m. on May 7, Wednesday, signaling that the initial round of voting had concluded without a successful result.
An estimated 45,000 faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square, waiting prayerfully for news. The smoke, expected earlier in the evening, finally appeared two hours later, confirming that no cardinal had yet received the necessary two-thirds majority vote.
Among the crowd was Deacon Nicholas Nkoronko from Tanzania, who shared with Vatican News: “Our role here is to pray and to join with other Christians, other Catholics, to pray for the Holy Spirit to guide the whole process.”
He added, “Wherever the new Pope comes from—Africa, Asia, America—what we need is a holy Pope who will guide the Church and be its pastor.”
The conclave will resume with further ballots until a new Pope is elected.
Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), a media platform of the Catholic Church, aims to share Christ. RVA started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station to serve Asian countries in their respective local language, thus earning the tag “the Voice of Asian Christianity.” Responding to the emerging context, RVA embraced media platforms to connect with the global Asian audience via its 21 language websites and various social media platforms.
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