VATICAN CITY
Black smoke rose above the Sistine Chapel Wednesday which meant that cardinals failed to elect a new pope on the second day of conclave.
The 115 cardinals locked themselves to vote to elect the 266th leader of the Roman Catholic Church on the second day of Papal conclave at Saint Peter's Basilica on Wednesday.
Cardinals will convene again on Wednesday afternoon to decide on the new spiritual leader of Roman Catholics.
A total of 115 elector-cardinals, all aged under 80, from 48 countries in five continents are set to take part in a series of ballots which continue until one man receives a two-thirds majority, or 77 votes. If there is no winner in the 33rd round, the cardinals may decide to proceed to election by majority, or to take the two names with the largest number of votes in the previous round and decide between them by a majority vote.
When a pope is elected, the ballots are burned immediately. By tradition, the ballots are burned dry to produce white smoke when a pope has been elected; they are burned with damp straw or other chemicals to produce black smoke when the voting has been inconclusive.
Following the white smoke, the senior cardinal deacon will make the announcement for which the Catholic world has been waiting. He will step out onto the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, and say; 'Habemus papam' ("We have a pope") and then will reveal the pope's identity.
